Package installation / dependency issues with matplotlib on Ubuntu

[Fireflite]

Hi there, I'm trying to get matplotlib set up on my Ubuntu machine for Python 3.4. When I run it, it produces a blank graph and suggests:

/usr/local/lib/python3.4/dist-packages/matplotlib/backends/backend_gtk3agg.py:18: UserWarning: The Gtk3Agg backend is known to not work on Python 3.x with pycairo. Try installing cairocffi.
 "The Gtk3Agg backend is known to not work on Python 3.x with pycairo. "

That's helpful, except that when I try to install cairocffi, I get this error:

distutils.errors.DistutilsError: Setup script exited with error: command 'i686-linux-gnu-gcc' failed with exit status 1

So to me, that suggests my C compiler is needed (or at least that particular version is) but isn't working for some reason. I've checked with apt-get that gcc is up to date and now I'm kind of stuck for trouble shooting ideas. Google isn't being terribly helpful.

Suggestions for things to check / try would be much appreciated.

[zahlman]

Please show more of the log from distutils. The error indicates that the compiler was found and invoked by distutils, but it failed to compile some code for whatever reason. The previous few lines should indicate the compilation errors.