2 posts tagged with "pip"

Here is a situation a lot of conda users know: you are working in conda environment, you reach for one more package, and it isn't in any conda channel you have configured. The conda way forward isn't obvious, so you run pip install <some-package>. The package installs successfully, your work continues, and the decision appears harmless. Then, perhaps the following day or several months later, the environment breaks while you are installing, updating, or removing something that seems completely unrelated.

Preface​

This post is adapted from a talk I gave at PyConDE & PyData 2026.

In it, I walk through the evolution of Python packaging, from distutils to pip, and later to conda, and how these tools emerged in response to different needs within the Python community.

The ideas in this post are based on my experience as a maintainer in the conda ecosystem and conversations I’ve had with users and contributors over time. A recurring theme in those discussions is the tendency to frame conda and pip as competing tools.

What I’ve found more useful is to view them instead as parts of different ecosystems, shaped by different constraints and priorities. That perspective also helps explain why mixing them can sometimes lead to unexpected behavior in practice.

This post is an attempt to share that perspective in a more structured form.