Can't upgrade matplotlib in Ubuntu 12.04 with Canopy installed

I'm trying to upgrade `matplotlib` in `Ubuntu 12.04`. When I run the command: ``` sudo pip install --upgrade matplotlib ``` I get this error: ``` Downloading/unpacking matplotlib Running setup.py egg_info for package matplotlib The required version of distribute (>=0.6.28) is not available, and can't be installed while this script is running. Please install a more recent version first, using 'easy_install -U distribute'. (Currently using distribute 0.6.24dev-r0 (/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages)) Complete output from command python setup.py egg_info: The required version of distribute (>=0.6.28) is not available, and can't be installed while this script is running. Please install a more recent version first, using 'easy_install -U distribute'. (Currently using distribute 0.6.24dev-r0 (/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages)) ---------------------------------------- Command python setup.py egg_info failed with error code 2 Storing complete log in /home/gabriel/.pip/pip.log ``` So I run: ``` easy_install -U distribute ``` and I get: ``` Traceback (most recent call last): File "/home/gabriel/Enthought/Canopy_32bit/User/bin/easy_install", line 9, in <module> load_entry_point('distribute', 'console_scripts', 'easy_install')() File "/home/gabriel/Enthought/Canopy_32bit/User/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setuptools-0.9.8-py2.7.egg/pkg_resources.py", line 378, in load_entry_point return get_distribution(dist).load_entry_point(group, name) File "/home/gabriel/Enthought/Canopy_32bit/User/lib/python2.7/site-packages/setuptools-0.9.8-py2.7.egg/pkg_resources.py", line 2565, in load_entry_point raise ImportError("Entry point %r not found" % ((group,name),)) ImportError: Entry point ('console_scripts', 'easy_install') not found ``` So there's something not working with my `Canopy` install. I'm using `Spyder` right now so I could uninstall `Canopy` to see if that helps, but the commands `sudo apt-get remove enthought*` and `sudo apt-get remove canopy*` find nothing to remove. What can I do to upgrade matplotlib? Add I followed the instructions to remove `Canopy` from here and now when I run `easy_install -U distribute` I get: ``` Could not find platform independent libraries <prefix> Could not find platform dependent libraries <exec_prefix> Consider setting $PYTHONHOME to <prefix>[:<exec_prefix>] Could not find platform independent libraries <prefix> Could not find platform dependent libraries <exec_prefix> Consider setting $PYTHONHOME to <prefix>[:<exec_prefix>] ImportError: No module named site ``` which I believe is related with me deleting the line `source ~/Enthought/Canopy_64bit/User/bin/activate` from `~/.profile`. I tried running the following commands as sudo: ``` apt-get autoclean apt-get clean apt-get update apt-get upgrade apt-get dist-upgrade apt-get -f install dpkg --configure -a apt-get install --reinstall python ``` but that did not work. Any ideas on how to fix this? Add 2 I tried setting `PYTHONHOME` with the command: ``` export PYTHONHOME=/usr/lib/python2.7 ``` and now `easy_install -U distribute` returns: ``` ImportError: No module named site ``` Same thing with: ``` export PYTHONHOME=/usr/local/lib/python2.7 ``` So now off to chase that error. Add 3 Setting: ``` export PYTHONHOME=/usr/lib/python2.7/ ``` and then running the command as `sudo`: ``` sudo easy_install -U distribute ``` did the trick. I could then run `sudo pip install --upgrade matplotlib`. I'll add this as an answer in a minute.