Re: [RFC] mark python3 site-packages as externally managed

[0x5c <0x5c@users.noreply.github.com>]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1541 bytes --]

New comment by 0x5c on void-packages repository

https://github.com/void-linux/void-packages/issues/43703#issuecomment-1628688907

Comment:
> I do find pip install --user necessary for non-project specific tools though (ex. [virtualfish](https://github.com/justinmayer/virtualfish), [powerline-status](https://pypi.org/project/powerline-status/)). The alternative would be to create system packages for these tools but in my opinion that would be a higher burden all around.

I have had tools like that in my workflow in the past, but never would it have been impossible to simply pass `--break-system-packages` like the error message suggests. Also as icp1994 mentioned earlier, tools like `pipx` are designed for this specific purpose of installing python-based tools in venvs and exposing them in the path.

> Indeed but it's relatively easy to fix by removing the appropriate `site-packages` folder under `.local/lib`. Especially if you only use it for a few system wide tools and keep everything else in virtual environments. I think this is something people who use it regularly (on a rolling distro at least) would be familiar with since every time the `python3` package is updated to a new major version you need to reinstall these packages anyways.

While easy to fix, this kind of bug has the potential to be very difficult to diagnose properly and take much valuable time, including in the distro's support places (bug tracker, IRC, etc).
This is the main reason the "externally managed" feature exists in the first place.