Alright, so I downloaded Xcode, installed it and somehow managed to get the compiler into /usr/bin. Then I tried again installing libjpeg, freetype and PIL following the instructions from the link. And apparently it worked.
Unfortunately now I am getting this error:
However, it dropped a .mobi file into the folder and after manually putting it on my kindle... voila! Although panel-view doesn't seem to work (he ignores the middle row of panels and skips right to the third) it's legible just fine in fullscreen.
If asked for I could make a before-after pic. It's great, but maybe the error message provides some intel anyway