Pros and cons of Python sources?

[Paul Moore]

On 27 November 2017 at 20:20, Martin Schöön <martin.schoon at gmail.com> wrote:
> Den 2017-11-26 skrev Cameron Simpson <cs at cskk.id.au>:
>> On 26Nov2017 10:00, nospam.Martin Schöön <martin.schoon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>Hmm, I seem to remember not being able to install packages with pip unless I
>>>did sudo pip.
>>
>> And this is exactly what I'm warning about. Many Linux users see some kind of
>> failure and just stick sudo on the front of the command. It is almost always
>> the wrong things to do, leading to effects in the OS install area instead of
>> being safely contained within one's home directory or work area.
>>
>> Instead of reaching straight for sudo, look at pip's manual or help. You will
>> find that:
>>
>>   pip install --user ...
>>
>> installs modules local to your home directory, avoiding troublesome installs
>> into the OS area.
>>
> Guilty as charged.
>
> So, how do I restore order in my Python 2.7 installation? Uninstall
> everything that looks, smells and tastes like Python 2.7 and then
> re-install?

Or just accept that everything's probably fine, but be prepared to
deal with the fact that something like that is what you should do if
you find a problem you can't resolve yourself and need to ask for help
from upstream (e.g., your distro provider or the pip maintainers).
It's not so much that anyone's forcing you to do anything a particular
way - just setting the boundaries on what they are willing to support
if you need help.

Paul