Pros and cons of Python sources?

[Michael Torrie]

On 11/25/2017 02:20 AM, Martin Schöön wrote:
> Some time ago I was advised that having a Python installation
> based on several sources (pip and Debian's repos in my case)
> is not a good idea. I need to tidy up my installation and I
> don't know what to opt for and what to opt out.
> 
> What are the pros and cons of the alternatives including the
> ones I haven't mentioned? Completeness, currency, bugs...

The problem with mixing repository-installed packages with pip-installed
packages is that there's always a chance a Debian update will overwrite
a pip package, possibly with an older version.  Or a pip-installed
package might bring in a new version that's not compatible with some
debian-installed package, breaking something.

One solution to this issue is to use Python the python virtualenv
facility to create a special python root you can work in for your
project, and pip install things you need into that place, without
worrying about the issue I mentioned before.