How to change python packages directory

Question

I'm using Ubuntu 14.04.

I manually installed Python 2.7.9 with this file.

But now, site.getsitepackages() method shows like bellow. And I can't import any installed modules.

>>> import site; site.getsitepackages()
['/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages', '/usr/local/lib/site-python']

The sub-directories must be named "dist-packages" on Ubuntu instead of "site-packages". How can I fix this?

score 4 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 13 '15 at 13:37

4

A quick solution would be to rename the directories or create a symbolic link:

$ ln -s /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages /usr/local/lib/python2.7/dist-packages

edited Feb 13 '15 at 13:37

Malik Brahimi

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answered Feb 13 '15 at 13:33

Dwight J. Browne

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9

And a lot less headaches. – Nodak Feb 13 '15 at 13:36
I noticed that was not enogh to solve the problem. In that case, a conflict error will occur like "undefined symbol: PyUnicodeUCS4_FromWideChar". It happens because the Python I run with is not the same Python I built with, and they have different unicode build settings. – fx-kirin Feb 15 '15 at 11:57

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:20

if you installed setuptools and pip through apt-get, sitepackages will be installed to the dist-packages directory(see this answer).

In this case, the build-in Python and the manually installed Python can have different unicode build settings.

To avoid this conflict problem, I must install setuptools manually through the manually installed Python. Don't use apt-get to install anything related to the Ubuntu build-in Python.

How to change python packages directory

2 Answers2