Homebrew , python installing

Question

i got an error while trying to install python throught homebrew. brew says what it failed to link python , here is output:

Linking /usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3... Warning: Could not link python. Unlinking...
Error: Could not symlink file: /usr/local/Cellar/python/2.7.3/bin/smtpd2.py
/usr/local/bin/smtpd2.py may already exist.
/usr/local/bin may not be writable.

ls -la on /usr/bin and bin rights :

The drwxrwxrwx  26 root             admin  884 26 Oct 16:03 bin

And smtpd2.py is exists.. How can i fix it? Delete smtpd2.py ?

Answer 1

Sounds like a permissions issue with /usr/local.

### Makes you owner of /usr/local 
$ sudo chown -R `whoami` /usr/local

### Force uninstalls failed python
$ brew uninstall -f python

### Clear the brew cache
$ rm -rf `brew --cache`

### Recreate the brew cache
$ mkdir `brew --cache`

### Cleanup - cleans up old homebrew files
$ brew cleanup

### Prune - removes dead symlinks in homebrew
$ brew prune

### Doctor - runs homebrew checks for common error causing issues
$ brew doctor

########
### Google and follow steps to fix what `brew doctor` came back with
########

### Reinstall python
$ brew install python

Answer 2

Did you try brew link --overwrite python ? This worked for me without having to uninstall python - see this question for more details.