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Welcome to the second issue of the conda Community Newsletter! We're excited to bring you the latest updates and insights, packed with valuable information and exciting developments.

In this issue, we've got a diverse range of topics to cover, including Upcoming Events, new tools like conda-store, thought-provoking discussions on conda's free nature, plugin hooks, and intriguing projects like Pandata. Plus, we'll delve into recent releases that promise to enhance your conda experience.

But that's not all! We'll also highlight one job opportunity and share news about recent talks from Travis Hathaway and Bianca Henderson, now available for public consumption.

Image credit: Is conda free?

Hi All,

A new blog post, titled "Is conda Free?", answers your questions about:

1. what is free to use in the conda ecosystem (most everything),
2. what parts of that ecosystem may not be free, and
3. under what clearly defined circumstances those maybe-not-free parts can still be free after all.

There has been confusion around this since Anaconda introduced its Terms of Service in 2020. I hope the post banishes that confusion (forevermore!). The post is framed as a discussion, introducing why there might be confusion about this topic, and then diving into the details.

Happy reading, and using the conda ecosystem too!
Dave C

PS: If reading the discussion doesn't grab you then go straight the summary and just pretend you read the whole thing.

PPS: Spoiler alert! ... Yes.

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With the latest conda release (23.7.2 at the time this post was written), the ability to define two new plugin hooks was introduced: "pre command" and "post command". These two new plugin hooks give plugin authors the ability to execute code before and after conda commands are run. In this blog post, we provide more details on how and why you may use these to extend the default behavior of conda.

The July 2023 releases are here! 🎊 Conda 23.7.0, 23.7.1, 23.7.2, and conda-build 3.26.0 are now available on both main and conda-forge channels.

Changes in Conda 23.7.0/23.7.1/23.7.2​

To update conda, run:

conda install -n base conda=23.7.2

✨ What's New? ✨​

In the latest release of conda, new pre- and post-command plugin hooks that allow you to run your code before or after a conda subcommand are now available, along with a much improved subcommand plugin hook and plugin infrastructure. There is also a new health check for conda doctor that detects altered packages in an environment by comparing expected and computed sha256 checksums, as well as a much-expanded API and command docs (conda env!).

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Welcome to the first ever conda community newsletter! The newsletter will highlight recent and upcoming activity that is relevant to the conda community. This first issue highlights community gathering spaces, upcoming events, the new rattler library, channel updates from conda-forge and Bioconda, a summary or recent conda-related web content, and finally releases and announcements.

We are hoping these will become a semi-regular feature in the conda landscape going forward. If you have an item to include in a future newsletter, please let us know by posting it to the Conda Communications Matrix Channel or by creating an issue in the Conda Communications GitHub Repo.

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Introduction

Welcome to conda Community Spaces!, Your gateway to a vibrant community where connections are forged, knowledge is shared, and inspiration flourishes. At conda, we are passionate about fostering open collaboration, embracing diverse perspectives, and creating a supportive environment for everyone. Join us on this exciting journey as we delve into the multitude of conda spaces designed to bring our community closer, empower your learning, and ignite your creativity.

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The newest conda doctor command will be available with conda version 23.5.0, enabling users to quickly detect corrupted packages (packages with files missing) in their conda environment.

One way packages in an environment may become corrupt is when one or more files in that package are accidentally deleted. Even a single missing file leads to a corrupted package. Until now there was no way to learn of these missing files except manually checking for their existence. With conda doctor, users can learn about all such packages in their conda environment with a single short command.

May releases are here! 🎊 Conda 23.5.0, conda-build 3.25.0, and conda-libmamba-solver 23.5.0 are now available on both main and conda-forge:

Changes in Conda​

To update conda, run:

conda install -n base conda=23.5.0

✨ What's New? ✨​

The long-awaited conda doctor subcommand plugin has been implemented! The related conda issue is over nine years old and has been a regularly requested feature. The conda doctor command enables conda users to detect any packages with files missing (i.e., corrupt packages) in their conda environment.

Illustration by Mahe Iram Khan

conda-build is an application that automates the process of building and distributing Python packages. It is a powerful tool that has the added advantage of handling dependencies that require C/C++ or other languages. This is particularly useful for scientific computing, where many Python packages have complex dependencies and require specialized libraries and tools.

A recipe outlines the steps needed to build a package from source code. We can create this "recipe" using grayskull. A recipe includes all the necessary information, from downloading and installing dependencies to compiling the source code and creating the final package. Conda-build then renders the recipe to build the package. A recipe typically includes:

• A script that contains metadata.
• The script that installs the files for the package on macOS and Linux.
• The build script that installs the files for the package on Windows.
• Any additional setup files, depending on the complexity of the package.

In this article, we will guide you through the process of building your Python package with conda-build! conda-build can help us handle even the most complex dependencies for our package, making the process smoother and more efficient. Let's get ready to build an amazing Python package!

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The new conda 23.3.1 release from March, 2023 includes an --experimental=jlap flag or experimental: ["jlap"] .condarc setting that can reduce repdata.json fetch bandwidth by orders of magnitude. This is how we developed conda's new incremental repodata feature.

Conda is a cross-platform, language-agnostic binary package manager that includes a constraint solver to choose compatible sets of packages. Before conda can install a package, it downloads information about all available packages. This allows the solver to make global decisions about which packages to install. The time and bandwidth spent downloading this metadata can be significant, but we have improved this in conda 23.3.1. By enabling the experimental: ["jlap"] feature in .condarc, conda users can see more than a 99% reduction in index fetch bandwith.