how to install python-dev with no root?

Question

I am trying to install YouCompleteMe, the installation guide says I need "python-dev"

sudo apt-get install python-dev

My question is how do I install this with out root access on Debian.

How can I check if I have python-dev?

Answer 1

to check the installation status, you can use

 dpkg-query -l python-dev

the first row will give you the installation status (ii means (currently) installed and (to-be) installed)

you cannot install a package without root-access (that's the point of root-access: having the priviliges to modify the system components). However, you can download the .deb file and extract it locally:

wget http://debian.mirror.ac.za/debian/pool/main/p/python-defaults/python-dev_2.7.9-1_amd64.deb
dpkg -x python-dev_2.7.9-1_amd64.deb .

(this will download python-dev and extract it into your current directory)