After 12.02->14.04 upgrade, any pip upgrade with "wheel" files fails

[Bryce Nesbitt]

Pip has given headaches since my 12.02->14.04 upgrade. There are a number of other reports about pip / virtualenv problems, but this one narrows it down a bit. The core error is "list index out of range":

# sudo pip install --upgrade distribute
Downloading/unpacking distribute
  Downloading distribute-0.7.3.zip (145kB): 145kB downloaded
Downloading/unpacking setuptools>=0.7 (from distribute)

Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/pip/req.py",
  line 1259, in prepare_files
    )[0]
IndexError: list index out of range

That line of code invokes pre-compiled python installs. Thus you can bypass it with:

# sudo pip install --no-use-wheel --upgrade distribute

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: python-pip 1.5.4-1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-36.63-generic 3.13.11.6
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-36-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3.4
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Mon Sep 29 09:09:07 2014
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: python-pip
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to trusty on 2014-09-18 (11 days ago)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Luc Stepniewski (lstep)]

From a comment on https://github.com/pypa/pip/issues/844, pip needs distribute >= 0.6.28.
So correct the problem, do :

sudo pip install --no-use-wheel --upgrade distribute

[Kai Kasurinen (kai-kasurinen)]

Since it seems likely to me that this is a local configuration problem, rather than a bug in Ubuntu, I am marking this bug as 'Incomplete'.

However, if you believe that this is really a bug in Ubuntu, then we would be grateful if you would provide a more complete description of the problem with steps to reproduce, explain why you believe this is a bug in Ubuntu rather than a problem specific to your system, and then change the bug status back to "New".

For local configuration issues, you can find assistance here:
http://www.ubuntu.com/support/community

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for python-pip (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]