PyGtk in Fedora virtualenv (for matplotlib)

A previous post explained how to set up a Python virtualenv with a great tool suite : IPython, NumPy, SciPy, Theano, PyLearn2 and matplotlib. However, when 'systematising' an application out of IPython research it's helpful to have a working matplotlib outside of IPython.

The following assumes you've set up a virtualenv for Python already.

It's a little bit of a hack, since it relies on the system-wide installation of PyGtk : Doing it truely within a virtualmin proved extremely tricky (ditto for Tkinter).

Update the current virtualenv with --system-site-packages

If you're currently 'in' the virtualenv, leave it :

deactivate

This update is a bit naughty - but it appears to leave currently installed extra modules alone (and then enters the virtualenv) :

virtualenv env --system-site-packages
. env/bin/activate

Uninstall the current matplotlib

If you haven't installed matplotlib yet, then skip this step.

Remove the current matplotlib, while in the correct (env) $ :

pip uninstall matplotlib

Install system-wide RPMs

sudo yum install pygtk2 pygtk2-devel

Redo the matplotlib setup

Early on in the installation 'configuration debug', there will be a summary of the currently detected modules available - it should now include all the Gtk options.

pip install matplotlib

Check installation in the REPL

Make sure you're in the right virtualenv, and then enter at the Python REPL (without the >>>, of course) :

>>> import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
>>> fig = plt.figure()
>>> ax = fig.add_subplot(111)
>>> ax.plot([5,3,7,6,2,5])
>>> plt.show()

... and (if everything is working) a fairly ugly GTK window will appear with a simple line chart in it.

Have fun!