Installing NumPy, Matplotlib, SciPy, and IPython on Linux

Installing NumPy and related recommended software on Linux depends on the distribution you have. We will discuss how you would install NumPy from the command line although you could probably use graphical installers; it depends on your distribution (distro). The commands to install Matplotlib, SciPy, and IPython are the same—only the package names are different. Installing Matplotlib, SciPy, and IPython is recommended, but optional.

Most Linux distributions have NumPy packages. We will go through the necessary steps for some of the popular Linux distros:

• Run the following instructions from the command line for installing NumPy on Red Hat:

  yum install python-numpy
  

• To install NumPy on Mandriva, run the following command-line instruction:

  urpmi python-numpy
  

• To install NumPy on Gentoo, run the following command-line instruction:

  sudo emerge numpy
  

• To install NumPy on Debian or Ubuntu, we need to type the following:

  sudo apt-get install python-numpy
  

The following table gives an overview of the Linux distributions and corresponding package names for NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib, and IPython:

Linux distribution	NumPy	SciPy	Matplotlib	IPython
Arch Linux	python-numpy	python-scipy	python-matplotlib	ipython
Debian	python-numpy	python-scipy	python-matplotlib	ipython
Fedora	numpy	python-scipy	python-matplotlib	ipython
Gentoo	dev-python/numpy	scipy	matplotlib	ipython
OpenSUSE	python-numpy, python-numpy-devel	python-scipy	python-matplotlib	ipython
Slackware	numpy	scipy	matplotlib	ipython