Issue

From pip install --help:

--user  Install to the Python user install directory for your platform. 
        Typically ~/.local/, or %APPDATA%\Python on Windows. 
        (See the Python documentation for site.USER_BASE for full details.)

The documentation for site.USER_BASE is a terrifying wormhole of interesting *NIX subject matter that I don't understand.

What is the purpose of --user in plain english? Why would intalling the package to ~/.local/ matter? Why not just put an executable somewhere in my $PATH?

Solution

pip defaults to installing Python packages to a system directory (such as /usr/local/lib/python3.4). This requires root access.

--user makes pip install packages in your home directory instead, which doesn't require any special privileges.

Answered By - user149341

Sunday, October 31, 2021

[SOLVED] What is the purpose of "pip install --user ..."?

Issue

Solution