[Numpy-discussion] Possible solution to binary distributionproblems for numpy on linux?

[Keir Mierle]

On 2/15/07, Charles R Harris <charlesr.harris at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 2/12/07, LUK ShunTim <shuntim.luk at polyu.edu.hk> wrote:
> > David Cournapeau wrote:
> > > Keith Goodman wrote:
> > >> On 2/11/07, David Cournapeau <david at ar.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp> wrote:
> > > > > My impression is that binary distribution of numpy is a big problem
> > > > > for many linux users, and that is entry barrier for many users (I may
> > > > > be wrong, that's just an impression from the ML).
> > > > > Do all of the major GNU/Linux distributions have recent versions of
> > > > > NumPy?
> > > > Debian Etch is at NumPy 1.0.1
> > > I think debian has numpy now (I am not using debian on workstation
> > > anymore, so I am not really following), but what about new versions of
> > > numpy/scipy ? If I want to give some of my code to people in my lab who
> > > do not use the same distribution than me, can I give a 10 minutes
> > > instructions set to have everything ?
> > >
> >
> > "Bleeding-edge apt-get repository" according to their web page.
> > "To use it add the following line to you /etc/apt/sources.list"
> >
> > deb http://deb-scipy.alioth.debian.org/apt ./
>
> Yep. In general, if you are using a Linux distro it is quite easy to use the
> svn repository. It seem to be on the Mac and Windows that folks have
> problems, particularly in filling the dependencies on Atlas if they want
> efficiency.
>
> That said, Numpy and MatplotLab have settled enough that the standard
> packages are probably adequate.

While this is true for people admining their own machines, this is not the case
for people without root access. For example, it is a major hassle to install
numpy on the computers at my university for exactly this reason.

It would be nice to have a self contained build of numpy/scipy/matplotlib for
these cases.

Keir