> Is there a non-root way to build and a way to install at least some of the packages in my $HOME Yes. You can install Guix as a package manager on top of you

> Is there a non-root way to build and a way to install at least some of the packages in my $HOME Yes. You can install Guix as a package manager on top of your POSIX OS. Then, you have profiles, and you can install packages into your personal profile in your $HOME, or into temporary project-specific environments. You can also define the environment by writing a manifest file which list requested packages and their versions, and put that file under version control. How it is used is documented here: https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/guix.html#Package-Management https://guix.gnu.org/manual/en/guix.html#Package-Management > How does it handle python wheels and other non-source language-specific packages? Of course you can install Python packages: https://guix.gnu.org/packages/P/page/12/ https://guix.gnu.org/packages/P/page/12/ If there are no pre-built packages for your machine architecture (say, you are developing on ARM), they are built and installed on your machine (or, a build server which you defined), otherwise you get automatically a compiled package from the Guix server. Also, and in difference to pip and so on, any needed C libraries will be installed as well, with the right versions. So, it is a bit like Conda, but it will also work if your project happens to mix, say, Python, C, C++ and Rust, and perhaps runs on mips or armhf. (My next side project will be a Game with a strategy engine in Rust, and a GUI written in Racket, just as an example). I have not yet tried it with Python, but I can confirm it works with Common Lisp libraries. Basically, you can get anything which is FLOSS, and if you need proprietary stuff you might be able it via a non-free package channel (similar to Debian).