[Pythonmac-SIG] Problems with MacPython packages at pythonmac.org - numpy, scipy, matplotlib

[Russell E. Owen]

In article <10136E08-8476-40C4-83E6-FE773765C05D at peterbull.com>,
 Adam Bull <adam at peterbull.com> wrote:

> Hi, I'm told this is the right place to discuss problems with the  
> packages at pythonmac.org? There are a few things that need fixing:
>... 
> The matplotlib package, by default, uses the WXAgg backend, which is  
> rather buggy, and frequently freezes on my machine. However, TkAgg  
> works fine; compiling with TkAgg as the default would make things  
> easier for users, and also remove the dependency on wxPython.

I suggest you set the backend yourself. I've never found the default 
backend useful (for handmade packages it used to be GTKAgg, even though 
GTK isn't Mac-compatible).

The easiest solution I've found is to create a file 
~/.matplotlib/matplotlibrc and put in only those lines you want to 
configure. This may not be kosher, but it seems to work. If you copy the 
whole matplotlibrc file (as the docs say you should), it will probably 
break when you upgrade to a new version. Here is mine; I actually only 
care about the first 3 settings:

backend      : TkAgg
numerix      : numarray  # numpy, Numeric or numarray
interactive  : True      # see 
http://matplotlib.sourceforge.net/interactive.html
toolbar      : toolbar2   # None | classic | toolbar2
timezone     : UTC        # a pytz timezone string, eg US/Central or 
Europe/Paris

Warning: the matplotlib package on pythonmac.org (up through version 
0.87.5) are not compatible with user-installed versions of Tcl/Tk and 
will simply crash. I can send you a matplotlib  package that fixes that 
problem. Future matplotlib packages should also work.

Also, MacPython will ignore user-installed versions of Tcl/Tk. Google 
for this topic for a recipe to fix that, or email me.

-- Russell