Error following first Theano program example - theano

Question

I'm totally new to theano and following this simple intro exercise to theano found here: http://deeplearning.net/software/theano/introduction.html#introduction
The idea is to simply declare some tensor variables and wrap them in a function, it is the most simple thing you could possibly do with theano
the exact code is:
import theano
from theano import tensor
# declare two symbolic floating-point scalars
a = tensor.dscalar()
b = tensor.dscalar()
# create a simple expression
c = a + b
# convert the expression into a callable object that takes (a,b)
# values as input and computes a value for c
f = theano.function([a,b], c)
# bind 1.5 to 'a', 2.5 to 'b', and evaluate 'c'
assert 4.0 == f(1.5, 2.5)
However, I get this traceback:
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "test.py", line 13, in <module>
f = theano.function([a,b], c)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/compile/function.py", line 223, in function
profile=profile)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/compile/pfunc.py", line 512, in pfunc
on_unused_input=on_unused_input)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/compile/function_module.py", line 1312, in orig_function
defaults)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/compile/function_module.py", line 1181, in create
_fn, _i, _o = self.linker.make_thunk(input_storage=input_storage_lists)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/link.py", line 434, in make_thunk
output_storage=output_storage)[:3]
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/vm.py", line 847, in make_all
no_recycling))
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/op.py", line 606, in make_thunk
output_storage=node_output_storage)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cc.py", line 948, in make_thunk
keep_lock=keep_lock)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cc.py", line 891, in __compile__
keep_lock=keep_lock)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cc.py", line 1314, in cthunk_factory
key = self.cmodule_key()
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cc.py", line 1032, in cmodule_key
c_compiler=self.c_compiler(),
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cc.py", line 1090, in cmodule_key_
sig.append('md5:' + theano.configparser.get_config_md5())
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/configparser.py", line 146, in get_config_md5
['%s = %s' % (cv.fullname, cv.__get__()) for cv in all_opts]))
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/configparser.py", line 146, in <listcomp>
['%s = %s' % (cv.fullname, cv.__get__()) for cv in all_opts]))
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/configparser.py", line 273, in __get__
val_str = self.default()
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/tensor/blas.py", line 282, in default_blas_ldflags
if GCC_compiler.try_flags(["-lblas"]):
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cmodule.py", line 1852, in try_flags
flags=flag_list, try_run=False)
File "/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.4/lib/python3.4/site-packages/theano/gof/cmodule.py", line 1799, in try_compile_tmp
os.write(fd, src_code)
TypeError: ('The following error happened while compiling the node', Elemwise{add,no_inplace}(<TensorType(float64, scalar)>, <TensorType(float64, scalar)>), '\n', "'str' does not support the buffer interface")
My only thought is that it may be python3 related, but that should not be the case. Please help.

Answer 1

Theano code base do not work out of the box for python2 and python3. It need to get converted. This is done during the installation of Theano. When installed via pip, this is done automatically. If you cloned/downloded the source code, you need to install it with:
python setup.py install
Here is a Theano ticket with more information:
https://github.com/Theano/Theano/issues/2317
Also, for python 3 support, you should use the development version line the other answer:
pip3 install --upgrade --no-deps git+git://github.com/Theano/Theano.git
But this isn't related to BLAS as it is written.

Answer 2

Problem is not including the BLAS in the most recent version of theano. Solved when you pull the bleeding-edge version:
pip3 install --upgrade --no-deps git+git://github.com/Theano/Theano.git