Python help >> modules give a segmentation error - how to fix?

Question

Welcome to Python 2.7! This is an online help utility. ...

>> help() help> modules Please wait a moment while I gather a list of all available modules... /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gobject/constants.py:24: Warning: g_boxed_type_register_static: assertion `g_type_from_name (name) == 0' failed import gobject._gobject /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py:40: Warning: g_boxed_type_register_static: assertion `g_type_from_name (name) == 0' failed from gtk import _gtk ** (python:9642): CRITICAL **: pyg_register_boxed: assertion `boxed_type != 0' failed /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py:40: Warning: cannot register existing type `GdkDevice' from gtk import _gtk /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtk-2.0/gtk/__init__.py:40: Warning: g_type_get_qdata: assertion `node != NULL' failed from gtk import _gtk Segmentation fault durrantm.../dmWorkflow$ 

Answer 1

Unfortunately, this is a known issue when using help in Python. Currently, it must import modules to check its docstrings, and this can lead to crashes if the modules execute the code upon import and call third-party libraries that expect a specific execution context or may simply be errors. Here open the Ubuntu problem about this particular case. There are a number of open issues in tracking Python issues about similar failures due to help importing.