@@ -48,18 +48,28 @@ Thank you for your help in keeping bug reports complete, targeted and descriptiv
4848Retrieving and installing the latest version of the code
4949========================================================
5050
51- Whenworking on the Matplotlib source, setting up a ` virtual
52- environment
53- <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/dev/virtualenvs/> `_ or a
54- ` conda environment < http://conda.pydata.org/docs/using/envs.html >`_ is
55- recommended .
51+ Whendeveloping Matplotlib, sources must be downloaded, built, and installed into
52+ a local environment on your machine.
53+
54+ Follow the instructions detailed :ref: ` here < install_from_source >` to set up your
55+ environment to build Matplotlib from source .
5656
5757..warning ::
5858
59- If you already have a version of Matplotlib installed, use an
60- virtual environment or uninstall using the same method you used
61- to install it. Installing multiple versions of Matplotlib via different
62- methods into the same environment may not always work as expected.
59+ When working on Matplotlib sources, having multiple versions installed by
60+ different methods into the same environment may not always work as expected.
61+
62+ To work on Matplotlib sources, it is strongly recommended to set up an alternative
63+ development environment, using the something like `virtual environments in python
64+ <http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/dev/virtualenvs/> `_, or a
65+ `conda environment <http://conda.pydata.org/docs/using/envs.html >`_.
66+
67+ If you choose to use an already existing environment, and not a clean virtual or
68+ conda environment, uninstall the current version of Matplotlib in that enviroment
69+ using the same method used to install it.
70+
71+ If working on Matplotlib documentation only, the above steps are *not * absolutely
72+ necessary.
6373
6474We use `Git <https://git-scm.com/ >`_ for version control and
6575`GitHub <https://github.com/ >`_ for hosting our main repository.
@@ -71,6 +81,7 @@ You can check out the latest sources with the command (see
7181
7282and navigate to the:file: `matplotlib ` directory.
7383
84+
7485To make sure the tests run locally you must build against the correct version
7586of freetype. To configure the build system to fetch and build it either export
7687the env ``MPLLOCALFREETYPE `` as::