No more GCC 4.4

Review 1623 by @srh
Closes #1748
merge of both #2478 python dependency and #2480 Build Python driver without protoc

All drivers are now built with the server, the last of the protobuf dependency in the build process is removed, and python-eggs can now be built
fix for python/ruby makefile relative execution
Remove extra span
Fix typo in test spec and docs

Review 1620 by @larkost
Merge branch 'next' into sam_2156_env_stuff