Oh, ok.
Tried with panda3d1.8_1.8.1~precise_i386.deb
Compiled from panda3d-1.8.1.tar.gz
(32bit)
I use Ubuntu precise 12.04LTS with XFCE (XUbuntu)
Linux Version? I don’t think it matters
Right, hmm. This seems like an issue with the build, then. Did you compile with Python support? Do you have conflicting Python installation? Do you perhaps have multiple conflicting Panda3D installations?