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There's truth in that, but it depends a bit how you install it. The OS packages are very reliable, and creating your own bundle (through a venv, or through some
by danmur 6y ago
There's truth in that, but it depends a bit how you install it. The OS packages are very reliable, and creating your own bundle (through a venv, or through something like pex) is pretty reliable too.
(EDIT: talking about Python packages specifically, not so sure about other things)
- StavrosK 6y agoMy experience with Python has been that once you get past the initial setup (which may be tricky if you haven't figured your Python installation out yet), everything just works. As you say, if something doesn't work due to conflicting dependencies, usually creating a virtualenv solves it. I don't bother these days, as just installing everything with --user tends to always work.
- globular-toast 6y agoUse pipx. It's the only thing you should install with pip (and yes you should use --user to install it).
- StavrosK 6y agoYeah, I just read about it after seeing it around for years, and it looks fantastic. I might try it, but I've never had a problem installing apps, so I don't have a pressing need.
- globular-toast 6y agoTo be honest, the number of apps installed with python isn't really that high so you can get away with it most of the time. I like the fact that pipx solves the problem so I just do it once and forget about it. The real problems start when people write scripts and notebooks etc that use libraries that might just happen to be installed or, even worse, install new libraries. The only solution to that is often a scorched earth approach where you vow to never install anything outside a venv again.