Added post where I just complain about Anaconda

_posts/2025-02-02-How-Is-Anaconda-This-Bad.md

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+---
+layout: post
+title: "How is Anaconda This Bad?"
+date: 2025-02-02 21:32:00 -0800
+tags: software python
+--- 
+> Normally, I try not to complain about things unless I'm also suggesting a solution.
+> This post is literally just for me to complain about anaconda, the python
+> environment manager. I suppose I am suggesting a solution, but the solution is
+> uninstalling anaconda and using literally any other environment manager.
+{: .prompt-warning}
+
+## Upgrading from the old solver is sometimes impossible
+A while ago, anaconda switched their slower environment solver to the much faster
+one from `libmamba`. 
+Along with some architecture changes, the anaconda blog 
+[claims that conda is fast now.](https://www.anaconda.com/blog/conda-is-fast-now)
+That's great, if you can update to the new solver. 
+The problem is that the old solver is sometimes too slow to reasonably solve
+the base environment in order to update to the new solver. 
+Their documentation [shows how to work around this,](https://conda.github.io/conda-libmamba-solver/user-guide/faq/#install-older-conda)
+but if the suggested workaround fails (as it did for me), you're pretty much
+SOL unless you want to reinstall conda. 
+Do yourself a favor, uninstall conda and replace it with something else.
+
+## It interferes in places it shouldn't
+### Breaks `clear` command on some arch systems
+Anaconda has 
+[a bug that's been open for nearly 10 years](https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/331#issuecomment-2622737645)
+where they provide a `clear` binary with hardcoded `TERMINFO` that causes the 
+command to just fail on some arch systems. 
+As far as I can tell, the binary isn't even used for anything. 
+
+### Interferes with `curl` certificate path
+Just earlier today I was using `curl` to check whether I could use a certain
+site for a project.[^1] 
+It failed with a certificate error, citing some path to a `.pem` file. I
+noticed `conda` in the path, and being already fed up with `conda` due to the
+previous issue, said "fuck it" and uninstalled `conda`. 
+Somehow, this solved the issue. 
+While I'm normally a massive proponent of reporting bugs, the anaconda team's
+response time to the last issue I mentioned does not inspire confidence that the
+issue will be responded to within the decade. 
+
+## Please use another environment manager 
+### mamba
+Mamba is just anaconda but rewritten in C++. It's way faster. Please use it
+instead of sending more people to anaconda hell. 
+
+Also, don't *install mamba via conda* like 
+[this AI generated slop article](https://toxigon.com/conda-vs-mamba-speed-comparison) 
+recommends. 
+Installing package managers with package managers causes problems.
+Incidentally, installing anaconda with `yay` may have played a part in my
+problems above. 
+This is, unfortunately, not an obvious thing to people installing anaconda, 
+nor did anywhere I looked suggest checking this as a troubleshooting step.
+I only learned about this piece of arcane wisdom from a friend.
+
+### poetry
+[Poetry](https://python-poetry.org/) is a python packaging and dependency manager.
+Really, it's a whole system for managing your project. 
+Dependencies are locked in and builds made reproducible using the `poetry.lock` file.
+If you're using a Python project for scientific computing, please for the love
+of god use `poetry` to package your software. 
+Don't let people guess which combination of package versions is the only one 
+that works after you've moved onto another job five years ago and they need to
+move the in-house software to a new computer.
+
+## Footnotes
+[^1]: I was trying to see if I could fetch the angular position of the sun using `curl`, so that I could feed it into a cron job that would set my monitor brightness accordingly. You know, like a sane person.