On 2025-04-16, Mats Wichmann via Python-list <python-list@python.org> wrote: > On 4/15/25 16:07, Grant Edwards via Python-list wrote: >> On 2025-04-15, Thomas Passin via Python-list <python-list@python.org> wrote: >> >>> On Linux, at least, it's standard for pip to install into the user's >>> site-packages location if it's not invoked with admin privileges - even >>> without --user. Pip will emit a message saying so. Well, that used to be >>> true but nowadays Pip wants you to use the --break-system-packages flag >>> if you want to insist on installing into the system's Python install, >>> even if it's going to go into --user. >> >> I've always been a little baffled by that message when installing with >> --user. How can that possibly break system stuff? > > Your user install dir is in your python path, so when you go to run an > installed Python program which imports other packages, it might pick up > the version you have in your user space rather than the system one it > was tested with.
Yes, I understand that. But that's breaking stuff for the user not for the system. Of course installing stuff for the user can break stuff for the user. I don't need a warning to tell me that. Also... when installing stuff with pip --user, it is always a package that is not installed for the system (usually not even available for the system). How can that "break system packages"? -- Grant -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
