Comment 4 for bug 254035

Here's a test which could show whether setuptools/easy_install is working on your system:

Find a Python package which is already installed, such as Nevow.

Now run {{{sudo easy_install nevow}}}. If it downloads anything, then your {{{easy_install}}} is broken.

Alternately, you could get minproj-2.0.0.tar.gz.
This is a project that has {{{install_requires=["nevow"]}}} in it. If running {{{sudo ./setup.py install}}} downloads anything, then your {{{setuptools}}} is broken.

You can do this without sudo, by setting the PYTHONPATH and using --prefix...