diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..370aae686
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitmodules
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[submodule "thirdparty/grpc"]
+	path = thirdparty/grpc
+	url = https://github.com/grpc/grpc
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 31b74e291..419ada6f5 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ set(THIRDPARTY_DIR "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty")
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake/Modules)
 
-find_package(Protobuf REQUIRED)
+set(CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/" ${CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH})
+
 find_package(PythonInterp REQUIRED)
 find_package(PythonLibs REQUIRED)
 find_package(NumPy REQUIRED)
@@ -15,6 +16,8 @@ set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -std=c++11")
 
 include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/include")
 include_directories("/usr/local/include")
+include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/include/")
+include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/third_party/protobuf/src")
 include_directories("${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
 include_directories("${NUMPY_INCLUDE_DIR}")
 
@@ -40,14 +43,14 @@ add_custom_command(
            "${HALO_PB_CPP_FILE}"
            "${HALO_GRPC_PB_H_FILE}"
            "${HALO_GRPC_PB_CPP_FILE}"
-    COMMAND ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/protobuf/protoc
     ARGS "--proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}"
          "--cpp_out=${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_PATH}"
          "${HALO_PROTO}"
-    COMMAND ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/protobuf/protoc
     ARGS "--proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}"
          "--grpc_out=${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_PATH}"
-         "--plugin=protoc-gen-grpc=/usr/local/bin/grpc_cpp_plugin"
+         "--plugin=protoc-gen-grpc=${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/grpc_cpp_plugin"
          "${HALO_PROTO}"
     )
 
@@ -56,14 +59,14 @@ add_custom_command(
            "${TYPES_PB_CPP_FILE}"
            "${TYPES_GRPC_PB_H_FILE}"
            "${TYPES_GRPC_PB_CPP_FILE}"
-    COMMAND ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/protobuf/protoc
     ARGS "--proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}"
          "--cpp_out=${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_PATH}"
          "${TYPES_PROTO}"
-    COMMAND ${PROTOBUF_PROTOC_EXECUTABLE}
+    COMMAND ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/protobuf/protoc
     ARGS "--proto_path=${PROTO_PATH}"
          "--grpc_out=${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_PATH}"
-         "--plugin=protoc-gen-grpc=/usr/local/bin/grpc_cpp_plugin"
+         "--plugin=protoc-gen-grpc=${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/bins/opt/grpc_cpp_plugin"
          "${TYPES_PROTO}"
     )
 
@@ -73,15 +76,41 @@ set(GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES ${HALO_PB_H_FILE} ${HALO_PB_CPP_FILE}
     ${TYPES_GRPC_PB_H_FILE} ${TYPES_GRPC_PB_CPP_FILE})
 
 include_directories(${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_PATH})
-link_libraries(grpc++_unsecure grpc pthread protobuf)
-if (UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
-   link_libraries(rt)
+
+link_libraries(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/libs/opt/libgrpc++_unsecure.a
+               ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/libs/opt/libgrpc++.a
+               ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/libs/opt/libgrpc.a
+               ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/grpc/libs/opt/protobuf/libprotobuf.a
+               pthread)
+
+if(UNIX AND NOT APPLE)
+  link_libraries(rt)
 endif()
 
+if(APPLE)
+  SET(CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX ".so")
+endif(APPLE)
+
+set(ARROW_LIB ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/arrow/cpp/build/release/libarrow.a)
+
+add_definitions(-fPIC)
+include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/arrow/cpp/src/")
+include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/cpp/src/")
+include_directories("${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/python/src/")
+add_library(pynumbuf STATIC ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/cpp/src/numbuf/tensor.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/cpp/src/numbuf/types.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/cpp/src/numbuf/metadata.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/cpp/src/numbuf/dict.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/python/src/pynumbuf/serialize.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/python/src/pynumbuf/numbuf.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/numpy.cc
+                            ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/thirdparty/numbuf/python/src/pynumbuf/adapters/python.cc)
+target_link_libraries(pynumbuf ${ARROW_LIB} ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
+
 add_executable(objstore src/objstore.cc src/ipc.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
-target_link_libraries(objstore arrow numbuf pynumbuf)
+target_link_libraries(objstore ${ARROW_LIB} pynumbuf)
 add_executable(scheduler src/scheduler.cc src/computation_graph.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
 add_library(halolib SHARED src/halolib.cc src/worker.cc src/ipc.cc ${GENERATED_PROTOBUF_FILES})
-target_link_libraries(halolib arrow numbuf pynumbuf)
+target_link_libraries(halolib ${ARROW_LIB} pynumbuf)
 
 install(TARGETS objstore scheduler halolib DESTINATION ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/lib/python/halo)
diff --git a/lib/python/halo/datasets/__init__.py b/lib/python/halo/datasets/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e69de29bb
diff --git a/lib/python/setup.py b/lib/python/setup.py
index 6fdd1b8b5..e5ba911a1 100644
--- a/lib/python/setup.py
+++ b/lib/python/setup.py
@@ -5,17 +5,13 @@ import setuptools
 
 # because of relative paths, this must be run from inside halo/lib/python/
 
-MACOSX = (sys.platform in ["darwin"])
-
 setup(
   name = "halo",
   version = "0.1.dev0",
   use_2to3=True,
   packages=find_packages(),
   package_data = {
-    "halo": ["libhalolib.dylib" if MACOSX else "libhalolib.so",
-               "scheduler",
-               "objstore"]
+    "halo": ["libhalolib.so", "scheduler", "objstore"]
   },
   zip_safe=False
 )
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 85f1652e5..6105fd65f 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-six >= 1.10
 typing
 funcsigs
 subprocess32
-grpcio
diff --git a/setup.sh b/setup.sh
index 020659b88..d0ef95df9 100644
--- a/setup.sh
+++ b/setup.sh
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 sudo apt-get update
-sudo apt-get install -y git cmake build-essential python-dev python-numpy automake autoconf libtool python-pip libboost-all-dev unzip
-sudo pip install --ignore-installed six # getting rid of an old version of six, if it is installed (needed for Ubuntu 14.04)
+sudo apt-get install -y git cmake build-essential autoconf libtool python-dev python-numpy python-pip libboost-all-dev unzip
 sudo pip install -r requirements.txt
 cd thirdparty
 bash download_thirdparty.sh
diff --git a/test/arrays_test.py b/test/arrays_test.py
index 5ab33c283..e395ae951 100644
--- a/test/arrays_test.py
+++ b/test/arrays_test.py
@@ -11,12 +11,6 @@ import os
 import halo.arrays.remote as ra
 import halo.arrays.distributed as da
 
-from google.protobuf.text_format import *
-
-from grpc.beta import implementations
-import halo_pb2
-import types_pb2
-
 class ArraysSingleTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
   def testMethods(self):
diff --git a/test/runtest.py b/test/runtest.py
index 67be6d6ca..c412ba014 100644
--- a/test/runtest.py
+++ b/test/runtest.py
@@ -8,11 +8,6 @@ import time
 import subprocess32 as subprocess
 import os
 
-from google.protobuf.text_format import *
-
-import halo_pb2
-import types_pb2
-
 import test_functions
 import halo.arrays.remote as ra
 import halo.arrays.distributed as da
diff --git a/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh b/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
index 937259c90..6ad79b648 100644
--- a/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
@@ -16,37 +16,14 @@ else
   exit 1
 fi
 
-echo "installing arrow"
-export FLATBUFFERS_HOME=$TP_DIR/arrow/cpp/thirdparty/installed/
-$TP_DIR/arrow/cpp/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
-$TP_DIR/arrow/cpp/thirdparty/build_thirdparty.sh
+echo "building arrow"
+cd $TP_DIR/arrow/cpp
+source setup_build_env.sh
 mkdir -p $TP_DIR/arrow/cpp/build
 cd $TP_DIR/arrow/cpp/build
-cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
+cmake -DLIBARROW_LINKAGE=STATIC -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
 make VERBOSE=1 -j$PARALLEL
-sudo make VERBOSE=1 install
 
-echo "installing numbuf"
-mkdir -p $TP_DIR/numbuf/cpp/build
-cd $TP_DIR/numbuf/cpp/build
-cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release  ..
-make VERBOSE=1 -j$PARALLEL
-sudo make VERBOSE=1 install
-mkdir -p $TP_DIR/numbuf/python/build
-cd $TP_DIR/numbuf/python/build
-cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
-make VERBOSE=1 -j$PARALLEL
-sudo make VERBOSE=1 install
-
-echo "installing GRPC"
-cd $TP_DIR/grpc/third_party/protobuf
-./autogen.sh
-export CXXFLAGS="$CXXFLAGS -fPIC"
-./configure --enable-static=no
-sudo make install
-sudo ldconfig
-cd python
-sudo python setup.py install
+echo "building GRPC"
 cd $TP_DIR/grpc
-make VERBOSE=1 -j$PARALLEL
-sudo make VERBOSE=1 install
+make static HAS_SYSTEM_PROTOBUF=false HAS_SYSTEM_ZLIB=false -j$PARALLEL
diff --git a/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh b/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
index 219048cd1..786137d4f 100644
--- a/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
+++ b/thirdparty/download_thirdparty.sh
@@ -7,9 +7,9 @@ TP_DIR=$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE:-$0}")"; pwd)
 
 if [ ! -d arrow ]; then
   echo "Fetching arrow"
-  git clone https://github.com/apache/arrow.git
+  git clone https://github.com/pcmoritz/arrow.git
   cd arrow
-  git checkout 4bd13b852d376065fdb16c36fa821ab0e167f0fc
+  git checkout static
   cd ..
 fi
 
@@ -18,10 +18,9 @@ if [ ! -d numbuf ]; then
   git clone https://github.com/amplab/numbuf.git
 fi
 
-if [ ! -d grpc ]; then
-  echo "Fetching GRPC"
-  git clone https://github.com/grpc/grpc.git
-  cd grpc
-  git submodule update --init
-  cd ..
-fi
+git submodule update --init --recursive
+
+# this seems to be neeccessary for building on Mac OS X
+cd grpc
+git submodule update --init --recursive
+cd ..
diff --git a/thirdparty/grpc b/thirdparty/grpc
new file mode 160000
index 000000000..d941fd878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/thirdparty/grpc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Subproject commit d941fd8786b7eb9c20a299b84d7a2a7c9228549d