On 13 November 2017 at 02:59, Brendan Barnwell brenbarn@brenbarn.net wrote:
On 2017-11-12 05:18, Nick Coghlan wrote:
- the `pip install` option really is nicer looking than `python -m pip
install`, and it only has actual problems in the presence of multiple Python versions and when upgrading pip itself on Windows (plus: lots of third party guides recommend it, as do pypi.org project pages)
Is there any *advantage* to using `pip install` instead of `python-m install`? If not, could we at least change everything under Python/pip control (e.g., pip documentation) to never recommend `pip` and always recommend `python -m pip` instead, and encourage all third-party documentation to always use `python -m pip` and never use `pip`?
We've already changed most of them (pypi.org itself is the main one that we haven't changed it yet).
However, there are still per-project READMEs out there that suggest "easy_install project" and direct invocation of "python setup.py install", so it really isn't appealing to layer yet another mandatory change in the recommended spelling of the installation command and create yet another point of confusion - it will be much nicer overall if we can retroactively make the existing "pip install" instructions correct for most users, and leave "python -m pip install" to the "Multiple versions of Python" and "Self-upgrading pip on Windows".
Cheers, Nick.
P.S. As a user, it's also genuinely irritating to have to always type the "python -m " prefix when inside an active virtual environment, as in that case, there isn't any ambiguity about which environment pip should be manipulating or which version of Python it should be using.