I tried to install pip following the instructions here: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installing/
but whenever I tried to run the installer, I got an error. If I ran as a regular user: python2.7 get-pip.py I'd get a permission denied error (as expected) trying to write to the site-packages directory: OSError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages/pip-8.1.1.dist-info' This does not surprise me, and I'm not concerned by that. But if I ran using sudo, I'd get a surprising error. I tried using both 2.7 and 3.3, and got similar errors each time: sudo python2.7 get-pip.py IOError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' sudo python3.3 get-pip.py IsADirectoryError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' This surprises me. Is this a bug in pip? Here are the full tracebacks: # Python 2.7 traceback Exception: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 209, in main status = self.run(options, args) File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/commands/install.py", line 249, in run with self._build_session(options) as session: File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 72, in _build_session insecure_hosts=options.trusted_hosts, File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 321, in __init__ self.headers["User-Agent"] = user_agent() File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 97, in user_agent zip(["lib", "version"], platform.libc_ver()), File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/platform.py", line 163, in libc_ver f = open(executable,'rb') IOError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' Traceback (most recent call last): File "get-pip.py", line 19154, in <module> main() File "get-pip.py", line 194, in main bootstrap(tmpdir=tmpdir) File "get-pip.py", line 172, in bootstrap sys.exit(pip.main(["install", "--upgrade"] + args)) File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/__init__.py", line 213, in main File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 245, in main File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 72, in _build_session File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 321, in __init__ File "/tmp/tmpCYNTpT/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 97, in user_agent File "/usr/local/lib/python2.7/platform.py", line 163, in libc_ver f = open(executable,'rb') IOError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' # Python 3.3 traceback Exception: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 209, in main status = self.run(options, args) File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/commands/install.py", line 249, in run with self._build_session(options) as session: File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 72, in _build_session insecure_hosts=options.trusted_hosts, File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 321, in __init__ self.headers["User-Agent"] = user_agent() File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 97, in user_agent zip(["lib", "version"], platform.libc_ver()), File "/usr/local/lib/python3.3/platform.py", line 162, in libc_ver f = open(executable,'rb') IsADirectoryError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' Traceback (most recent call last): File "get-pip.py", line 19154, in <module> main() File "get-pip.py", line 194, in main bootstrap(tmpdir=tmpdir) File "get-pip.py", line 172, in bootstrap sys.exit(pip.main(["install", "--upgrade"] + args)) File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/__init__.py", line 213, in main File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 245, in main File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/basecommand.py", line 72, in _build_session File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 321, in __init__ File "/tmp/tmp75x40t/pip.zip/pip/download.py", line 97, in user_agent File "/usr/local/lib/python3.3/platform.py", line 162, in libc_ver f = open(executable,'rb') IsADirectoryError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/tmp' -- Steven -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list