Glossary¶

Anaconda
Anaconda.org
Anaconda Client CLI
Binstar
conda
conda build
conda package
label
Miniconda
namespace
noarch package
on-site repository
organization account
package
package manager
repository
source package
token

Anaconda ¶

An easy-to-install, free collection of open source packages, including Python and the conda package manager, with free community support. Over 150 packages are installed with Anaconda. After installing Anaconda, you can install or update over 250 additional open source packages contained in the Anaconda repository using the conda install PACKAGENAME command.

NOTE: Replace PACKAGENAME with the name of the desired package.

Anaconda.org ¶

Anaconda.org is a package management service by Anaconda. Anaconda.org makes it easy to find, access, store and share public notebooks, environments, and conda and PyPI packages. Anaconda.org also makes it easy to stay current with updates made to the packages and environments you are using.

Anaconda.org hosts hundreds of useful Python packages, notebooks and environments for a wide variety of applications. You do not need a Anaconda.org account, or to be logged in, to search for public packages, download and install them.

For more information, see the introduction to Anaconda.org.

Anaconda Client CLI ¶

The Anaconda Client command line interface (CLI) allows you to log into Anaconda.org directly from your terminal window and manage your account. It is not necessary for downloading or installing packages from Anaconda.org.

Binstar ¶

Binstar was an early project name for Anaconda.org. You may still see the term Binstar in certain command and directory names.

conda ¶

The conda package manager and environment manager program that installs and updates packages and their dependencies, and lets you easily switch between environments on your local computer.

conda build ¶

The command line interface that lets you build packages for your local operating system.

conda package ¶

A compressed file containing system-level libraries, Python modules, executable programs or other components. The file uses the tarball format.

label ¶

Part of the URLs on Anaconda.org where conda looks for packages. Labels are searched only if you specify a label.

The default label is main, so packages that are uploaded without specifying a label are automatically labeled main. The version labeled main is also downloaded by default, unless a user specifies a different label.

So, if a file is labeled main, then the label name may be omitted from the URL. For example, the following repositories are equivalent:

https://anaconda.org/sean/labels/main
https://anaconda.org/sean

Commands such as conda install can be used with a channel or used with a channel and a label:

conda install --channel sean selenium
conda install --channel sean/label/dev selenium
conda install --channel sean/label/stable selenium

Miniconda ¶

A minimal installer for conda. Like Anaconda, Miniconda is a software package that includes the conda package manager and Python and its dependencies. However, Miniconda does not include any other packages. Once conda is installed by installing either Anaconda or Miniconda, you can install other software packages directly from the command line using conda install.

namespace ¶

Each user and organization has their own location called a “namespace” where they may host packages. You can view the public packages in a user or organization’s namespace by navigating to their user page.

EXAMPLE: The travis user namespace located at https://anaconda.org/travis contains packages that were uploaded and shared by the user whose account is named travis.

noarch package ¶

A conda package that contains nothing specific to any system architecture, so it may be installed on any system. When conda searches for packages on any system in a channel, conda always checks both the system-specific subdirectory, for example, linux-64 and the noarch directory.

on-site repository ¶

Anaconda.org is powered by Anaconda Repository by Anaconda, Inc. You can run your own private repository behind firewalls or in air-gapped environments. For more information, contact sales@anaconda.com.

organization account ¶

An organization account is a type of account on Anaconda.org that allows multiple individual users to administer packages and control package access to different user groups. It also includes a large amount of storage space.

package ¶

All files uploaded to Anaconda.org are stored in packages. Each Anaconda.org package is visible at its own unique URL based on the name of the user who owns the package and the name of the package.

For example, if a user travis uploads a test package named testpkg, it is visible at:

https://anaconda.org/travis/testpkg

Anaconda.org packages may contain multiple files, and these files may be data files such as comma separated value (CSV), tab separated value (TSV), or text (TXT), or package files such as conda packages, PyPI packages or R packages.

NOTE: All packages are public if uploaded by users of free accounts. Packages may be designated as private by upgrading to a paid account.

package manager ¶

A package manager is a tool that facilitates the process of installing, upgrading, configuring and removing packages, including the packages on Anaconda.org. Anaconda.org supports two package managers, conda and PyPI.

For more information, see using package managers.

repository ¶

A storage location from which software packages may be retrieved and installed on a computer.

source package ¶

“Source” packages are source code only, not yet built for any specific platform, and might be compatible with all, some or only one of the platforms.

token ¶

A token–or authentication token–is the mechanism by which anonymous users can download private packages without using a Anaconda.org account. It is an alpha-numeric code that is inserted into a URL that allows access by anyone who has the URL. You can use Client to generate new tokens to give other users specifically scoped access to packages and collections.