error: command 'x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc' failed with exit status 1” in virtualenv

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Environment: Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon. This error is displayed: error: command 'x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc' failed with exit status 1 when attempting the following in a virtualenv: pip install lxml pip install pillow pip install pycrypto pip install pymongo (fails but still shows in pip freeze) There are several solutions here that recommend installing python2.7-dev: Installing Pillow error: Setup script exited with error: command 'x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc' failed with exit status 1 Installing lxml in virtualenv via pip install error: command 'x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc' failed Pillow installation error: command 'gcc' failed with exit status 1 fatal error: Python.h: No such file or directory I am confused by this recommendation however because it is my understanding that using something like: sudo apt-get install python2.7-dev would add this to the main *system* instance of Python, rather that the one in virtualenv. (see - http://unix.stackexchange.com/a/56392/92486) Can I add python2.7-dev just to the virtualenv version of Python?