[specproc]

Where's Anaconda at these days? I've not touched it since starting out with Python and don't think I've touched it since discovering other package managers.

Anyone here using it regularly in 2025, is there anything I'm missing out on?

[zubiaur]

Everywhere where they may be a shadow data science team. And that's how they get you. One has to be very careful to install the Open Source portions. They make no effort to make the boundary obvious. If one does not, IT will get a call asking for licensing money.

[throwaway3646]

Can confirm, this is exactly what happened. They demand ridiculous back payments unless you buy multiple-year licenses. It would be trivial for them to require an account to use the main channel, but they deliberately make it easy to accidentally use it. If you have to use it, make sure to DNS block anaconda.com (.org seems to be fine), but even better, just avoid them like the plague.

[gonzalohm]

How are they going to find out though?

[zubiaur]

They have a form where they ask for an email before giving the download link. My guess is that + a bit of telemetry.

[throwaway3646]

This will also happen if you use condaforge, which can be downloaded freely. Condaforge will also download from the main channel if the recipe requires it.

[gonzalohm]

You can bypass that

[throwaway3646]

By checking IP, I'm guessing

[gonzalohm]

I work from home and even if I didn't, how are they going to link an IP to a company

[MengerSponge]

Anaconda sells a managed environment for data science applications, right? Basically the Red Hat business model?

I've used conda for years and haven't set aside the day it'll take to switch to something simple and modern (uv's top of the list, but I'm open to suggestions)

[blitzar]

use uv, you dont need to bin your existing installation (it just wont get used anymore) and it will take you 5 minutes to switch. next time you get new hardware you wont bother installing anything else python related.

[specproc]

Heh, like I'm still holding on to pip. uv looks fab, really need to give it a go.

[esseph]

Just add 'uv' in front of your pip commands, that's how it's called anyway

[myth_drannon]

Setting up a python environment for ML work (pytorch + Nvidia) is simpler with Anaconda, it's a pure dependency nightmare doing it with something else.

[Balinares]

Counterpoint: conda is a constant, neverending source of pure dependency nightmares here, that consistently costs us a two-digit percentage of velocity. I'm glad it's working for you, but I really wouldn't generalize. Or recommend it to anyone getting into Python. Use uv, new people, for real.

[disgruntledphd2]

To be fair, both you and GP are correct. Conda is really really painful to maintain, and it's also much much better for python stuff that relies on native libraries (i.e. C/Fortran/Cuda).

Like, I love uv but GDAL (to use a random recent example) is much easier to install and maintain with conda.

[specproc]

Yeah, I remember finding that the case for a while. I can't remember when things clicked and it was fine without. I moved to arch a while back, perhaps then.

[SJC_Hacker]

Docker