What's the best way to install Matplotlib Basemap toolkit?

I tried to use easy_install, but it doesn't work (it did work for geopy, which was nice and easy, but not basemap):

apt-get install python-setuptools
sudo easy_install basemap

It gives me errors about not having GEOS:

    checking for GEOS lib in /usr ....
    checking for GEOS lib in /usr/local ....
    checking for GEOS lib in /sw ....
    checking for GEOS lib in /opt ....
    checking for GEOS lib in /opt/local ....
    checking for GEOS lib in /home/endolith ....
    error: Setup script exited with
    Can't find geos library . Please set the
    environment variable GEOS_DIR to point to the location
    where geos is installed (for example, if geos_c.h
    is in /usr/local/include, and libgeos_c is in /usr/local/lib,
    set GEOS_DIR to /usr/local), or edit the setup.py script
    manually and set the variable GEOS_dir (right after the line
    that says "set GEOS_dir manually here".

I installed libgeos-3.0.0 but it still didn't find it. I installed libgeos-dev and it gave me a ton of errors instead, so presumably that's what it needed, but it still doesn't work.

    error: Setup script exited with error: Command "gcc -pthread -fno-strict-aliasing -DNDEBUG -g -fwrapv -O2 -Wall -Wstrict-prototypes -fPIC -Isrc -I/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/numpy/core/include -I/usr/include/python2.5 -c src/_proj.c -o build/temp.linux-i686-2.5/src/_proj.o" failed with exit status 1

I have exactly the same problem... Dualcore intel 64bit Kubuntu...

I also tried installing libgeos 2.2.3 from source and it did not work (died with a refernce to double pointers or something...)

I have exactly the same problem... Dualcore intel 64bit Kubuntu...

I also tried installing libgeos 2.2.3 from source and it did not work (died with a refernce to double pointers or something...)

I have exactly the same problem... Dualcore intel 64bit Kubuntu...

I also tried installing libgeos 2.2.3 from source and it did not work (died with a refernce to double pointers or something...)

I get a ton of errors like

    src/_proj.c:1898: error: expected '=', ',', ';', 'asm' or '__attribute__' before '*' token
    src/_proj.c:2334: error: '__pyx_kp___cinit__' undeclared here (not in a function)
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: (near initialization for '__pyx_string_tab[0]')
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: (near initialization for '__pyx_string_tab[0]')
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: (near initialization for '__pyx_string_tab[0]')
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: (near initialization for '__pyx_string_tab[0]')
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: excess elements in struct initializer
    src/_proj.c:2334: warning: (near initialization for '__pyx_string_tab[0]')

I installed proj and httplib2 but it still won't work.

Mailing list post about the same issue:

http://www.nabble.com/All-kinds-of-issues-inslalling-basemap-under-Ubuntu-8.10-64bit--SEC%3DUNCLASSIFIED--td21329001.html

Looks like we need more dev packages because easy_install actually compiles stuff.

I really don't understand all of this, but this at least seems to have worked:

    sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib python-numpy libgeos-dev python-httplib2 python-imaging python-dev
    tar xvfz basemap-0.99.2.tar.gz
    cd basemap-0.99.2/
    sudo checkinstall sudo python setup.py install

No other combination of sudos on the last step worked, so I hope that is right.

The .deb file it creates is only 27k, but I guess that's what checkinstall does. I am skeptical if it would actually uninstall basemap successfully if I tried.

This command now works:

    from mpl_toolkits.basemap import Basemap

and I can see all the subparts with tab completion:

    In [2]: Basemap.
    Basemap.__base__ Basemap.__module__ Basemap.bluemarble Basemap.imshow
    Basemap.__bases__ Basemap.__mro__ Basemap.contour Basemap.makegrid
    Basemap.__basicsize__ Basemap.__name__ Basemap.contourf Basemap.mro
    Basemap.__call__ Basemap.__new__ Basemap.drawcoastlines Basemap.pcolor
    Basemap.__class__ Basemap.__reduce__ Basemap.drawcountries Basemap.pcolormesh
    Basemap.__cmp__ Basemap.__reduce_ex__ Basemap.drawgreatcircle Basemap.plot
    Basemap.__delattr__ Basemap.__repr__ Basemap.drawlsmask Basemap.quiver
    Basemap.__dict__ Basemap.__setattr__ Basemap.drawmapboundary Basemap.readshapefile
    Basemap.__dictoffset__ Basemap.__str__ Basemap.drawmapscale Basemap.rotate_vector
    Basemap.__doc__ Basemap.__subclasses__ Basemap.drawmeridians Basemap.scatter
    Basemap.__flags__ Basemap.__weakref__ Basemap.drawparallels Basemap.set_axes_limits
    Basemap.__getattribute__ Basemap.__weakrefoffset__ Basemap.drawrivers Basemap.tissot
    Basemap.__hash__ Basemap._getmapboundary Basemap.drawstates Basemap.transform_scalar
    Basemap.__init__ Basemap._readboundarydata Basemap.fillcontinents Basemap.transform_vector
    Basemap.__itemsize__ Basemap.barbs Basemap.gcpoints Basemap.warpimage

I did not modify any source code as described in the mailing list. Just the above commands.

I'll do some real tests later to see if it really works.

I tested a bunch of examples and it seems to be working!

This worked in Jaunty, too.

    sudo apt-get install python-matplotlib python-numpy libgeos-dev python-httplib2 python-imaging python-dev checkinstall
    tar xvfz basemap-0.99.3.tar.gz
    cd basemap-0.99.3/
    sudo su
    checkinstall python setup.py install

Then I filled in number 10 with "python-matplotlib, python-numpy, libgeos-dev, python-httplib2, python-imaging, python-dev"

It installed, and the demos run, but when I tried to uninstall it still works. :) So it's installed permanently and checkinstall apparently can't handle python installations

In Karmic:

    sudo su
    apt-get install python-matplotlib python-numpy libgeos-dev python-httplib2 python-imaging python-dev checkinstall
    tar xvfz basemap-0.99.4.tar.gz
    cd basemap-0.99.4/
    checkinstall python setup.py install

Then typed number 10, changed to python-matplotlib, python-numpy, libgeos-dev, python-httplib2, python-imaging, python-dev
Then it goes into interactive mode (?)
So I chose option 2 - install, and it worked!

How did you manage to solve the GEOS problem? I'm using Lucid, and I also get the same error:

Can't find geos library . Please set the
environment variable GEOS_DIR to point to the location

when I try the exact steps described by Endolith above.

Did you search synaptic for "geos" to try to find what name the library might be under? I'm not at a computer right now

Try to search for "libgeos-dev" in synaptic and then download the tar package for basemap.. execute it with

python setup.py install

then it should work