title: Django: python manage.py runserver gives RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded in cmp
body: <p>I am  trying to learn Django form the 1st tutorial on the Django project website. I might be missing something obvious but, after following all the instructions when I come to run the command</p>
  
  <pre><code>python manage.py runserver
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I get the error posted at the end of this plea for help (I have posted only the first few lines of the repeated lines of the error message for brevity).</p>
  
  <p>Here are some of the solutions/suggestions I have found on the web but were NOT helpful to me.</p>
  
  <p>1)sys.setrecursionlimit(1500).</p>
  
  <p>This didn't work for me. </p>
  
  <p>2).<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/15236556/django-runtimeerror-maximum-recursion-depth-exceeded">Django RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded</a></p>
  
  <p>This also isn't an option because I am not using PyDeV, I tried uninstalling and installing Django using pip it didn't fix anything and I am using Mountain Lion's native python, which I am not going to uninstall, since it is not recommended. </p>
  
  <p>3). I also tried: </p>
  
  <pre><code> python manage.py runserver --settings=mysite.settings
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Same exact error as the command without the option settings </p>
  
  <p>Any suggestions, recommendations would be much appreciated.
  I am using....
  Django Official Version. 1.5.1 which I installed using pip and Python 2.7.2</p>
  
  <pre><code>Unhandled exception in thread started by &lt;bound method Command.inner_run of &lt;django.contrib.staticfiles.management.commands.runserver.Command object at 0x10f7ee5d0&gt;&gt;
  Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/commands/runserver.py", line 92, in inner_run
      self.validate(display_num_errors=True)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/base.py", line 280, in validate
      num_errors = get_validation_errors(s, app)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/core/management/validation.py", line 35, in get_validation_errors
      for (app_name, error) in get_app_errors().items():
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/loading.py", line 166, in get_app_errors
      self._populate()
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/loading.py", line 72, in _populate
      self.load_app(app_name, True)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/loading.py", line 96, in load_app
      models = import_module('.models', app_name)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/utils/importlib.py", line 35, in import_module
      __import__(name)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/models.py", line 370, in &lt;module&gt;
      class AbstractUser(AbstractBaseUser, PermissionsMixin):
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/base.py", line 213, in __new__
      new_class.add_to_class(field.name, copy.deepcopy(field))
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/base.py", line 265, in add_to_class
      value.contribute_to_class(cls, name)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/fields/__init__.py", line 257, in contribute_to_class
      cls._meta.add_field(self)
    File "/Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/django/db/models/options.py", line 179, in add_field
      self.local_fields.insert(bisect(self.local_fields, field), field)
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
    File "/System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7/functools.py", line 56, in &lt;lambda&gt;
      '__lt__': [('__gt__', lambda self, other: other &lt; self),
  
    RuntimeError: maximum recursion depth exceeded in cmp
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>UPDATE:
  So what I ended up doing was to do an overkill of installing virtualbox, installing free ubuntu on it and then moving on to finish the tutorial...oh well! </p>