I use the Anaconda distribution. I can create environments containing any version of Python, like this: conda create -n myEnv python=2.7 conda activate

I use the Anaconda distribution. I can create environments containing any version of Python, like this: conda create -n myEnv python=2.7 conda activate myEnv I think the problem is that unless someone already knew Python, they probably wouldn't understand environments, so their first thought would be to somehow install another version of Python and replace the system Python, or to use a switcher to switch between versions. That would be my first intuition too. (and I believe that's how Ruby works, via RVM). But Python works just a little bit differently in that it advocates for the use of its own environments to isolate dependencies. I'll have to admit it is not super intuitive (I already have a system package manager (apt, brew, etc.) and I have Docker containers -- why do I need another yet another environment?) but over time I've just accepted it for what it is. It's a Python convention.