title: Ubuntu 14.04 Installing Numpy and Scipy without Root Access
body: <p>A remote server that I used for python development recently migrated to Ubuntu 14.04 and it has broken my numpy and scipy installation. I do not have root access and everything I have tried has resulted in failure. So far I have:</p>
  
  <p>1) Tried to install numpy from source built with the system version of python. This gives a PyUnicodeUCS2_FromUnicode error which I believe is because the system version uses ucs4. As I do not have root access I do not know if there is anything I can do about this.</p>
  
  <p>2) Tried to install numpy using pip. This gives an error saying that it cannot find the Python.h header file that is included in python-dev. Again, I have no root access so cannot install python-dev.</p>
  
  <p>3) Tried to create a virtual environment and install a new version of python. Initially I got a httpsrequest import error which meant I couldn't use pip but I was able to install from source. However when I then installed scipy and tried to import a module, I got the error that a libgfortran library was not found.</p>
  
  <p>I've spent the last day trying to find a solution to this but everything I try seems to encounter an error somewhere. I also don't want to have to install to much stuff (i.e. dependencies) in my home directory to get this to work as I only have a limited amount of space. Any ideas on how I could proceed?</p>