conda-forge · jaimergp · Sep 14, 2024 · Apr 11, 2025 · Apr 11, 2025 · Apr 11, 2025
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 [
   "index",
+  "history",
   "getting-in-touch",
   {
     "type": "category",

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+---
+title: History
+---
+
+# History of conda-forge
+
+conda-forge's origins cannot be explained without understanding the context of Python packaging back in the early 2010s. Back then, the installation of Python packages across operating systems was very challenging, specially on Windows, as it often meant compiling dependencies from source.
+
+Python 2.x was the norm, the community was transitioning from `easy_install` to `pip`, and there wouldn't be an alternative for Python eggs [^eggs] until 2012, when wheels are introduced [^wheels]. To get Python, you'd get the official installers from Python.org, stick to the system provided one in Linux, or resort to ActiveState's or Enthought's distributions in macOS and Windows [^legacy-python-downloads].
+
+## The origins of `conda`
+
+In 2012, Continuum Analytics announces Anaconda 0.8 in the SciPy conference [^anaconda-history]. Later that year, in September, Continuum would release `conda` 1.0, the cross-platform, language-agnostic package manager for pre-compiled artifacts [^conda-changelog-1.0]. The motivation behind these efforts was to provide an easy way to ship all the compiled libraries and Python packages that users of the SciPy and numpy stacks needed [^packaging-and-deployment-with-conda] [^lex-fridman-podcast].
+
+In constrast with Python eggs and wheels, conda packages were agnostic enough to ship Python itself, as well as the underlying shared libraries without having to statically vendor them under each Python package. This was particularly convenient for projects that relied on both compiled dependencies (e.g. C++ or Fortran libraries) and Python "glue code".
+
+By June 2013, conda is using a SAT solver and includes the `conda build` subcommand [^new-advances-in-conda], along with the concept of recipes [^conda-recipes-repo] [^early-conda-build-docs]. This is also when the first Miniconda release is announced. By the end of the year, Continuum Analytics announces Binstar.org, the predecessor of the Anaconda.org channels. This meant that now any user could build their software stack as conda packages and redistribute them online at no cost.
+
+By 2015, several institutes and groups were using Binstar to distribute software packages they used daily: the [Omnia Molecular Dynamics](https://github.com/omnia-md) project started as early as March 2014 [^binstar-omnia], UK's [Scitools](https://scitools.org.uk/) joined in June 2014 [^binstar-scitools], the [US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS)](http://www.ioos.noaa.gov/) started using it in July 2014 [^binstar-ioos]. The channel for conda-forge was not created until April 2015 [^binstar-conda-forge], and [Bioconda](https://anaconda.org/bioconda) waited until September of the same year.
+
+In 2015, Continuum Analytics rebranded as Anaconda Inc, and Binstar.org became Anaconda.org.
+
+## How conda-forge came to be
+
+In 2014, Filipe Fernandes ([@ocefpaf](https://github.com/ocefpaf)) and Phil Elson ([@pelson](https://github.com/pelson)) get in touch [^chatting-ocefpaf]. They are maintaining the Binstar channels for IOOS and Scitools, respectively.
+
+<!-- to be continued -->
+
+## References
+
+[^cgohlke-shutdown]: [Christoph Gohlke's Windows Wheels site is shutting down by the end of the month](https://www.reddit.com/r/Python/comments/vcaibq/christoph_gohlkes_windows_wheels_site_is_shutting/), 2022.
+
+[^anaconda-history]: [The Early History of the Anaconda Distribution](http://ilan.schnell-web.net/prog/anaconda-history/), Ilan Schnell, 2018.
+
+[^lex-fridman-podcast]: [Travis Oliphant: NumPy, SciPy, Anaconda, Python & Scientific Programming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFEE3w7F0ww&t=7596s), Lex Fridman Podcast #224, 2022.
+
+[^conda-changelog-1.0]: [`conda` 1.0 release notes](https://github.com/conda/conda/blob/24.7.1/CHANGELOG.md#100-2012-09-06), 2012.
+
+[^early-conda-build-docs]: [Conda build framework documentation](https://web.archive.org/web/20141006141927/http://conda.pydata.org/docs/build.html), 2014.
+
+[^conda-recipes-repo]: [ContinuumIO/conda-recipes](https://github.com/conda-archive/conda-recipes)
+
+[^packaging-and-deployment-with-conda]: [Packaging and deployment with conda](https://speakerdeck.com/teoliphant/packaging-and-deployment-with-conda), Travis Oliphant, 2013.
+
+[^new-advances-in-conda]: [New Advances in Conda](https://web.archive.org/web/20140331190645/http://continuum.io/blog/new-advances-in-conda), Ilan Schnell, 2013.
+
+[^binstar-scitools]: https://anaconda.org/scitools, 2014.
+
+[^binstar-ioos]: https://anaconda.org/ioos, 2014.
+
+[^binstar-omnia]: https://anaconda.org/omnia, 2014.
+
+[^binstar-conda-forge]: https://anaconda.org/conda-forge, 2015.
+
+[^chatting-ocefpaf]: [Filipe Fernandes on the Evolution of conda-forge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2oa_RLbTVA), Chatting with the Conda Community #1, 2024.
+
+[^wheels]: [PEP 427 – The Wheel Binary Package Format 1.0](https://peps.python.org/pep-0427/)
+
+[^eggs]: [The Internal Structure of Python Eggs](https://setuptools.pypa.io/en/latest/deprecated/python_eggs.html).
+
+[^legacy-python-downloads]: [Download Python for Windows (legacy docs)](https://legacy.python.org/download/windows/).
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ---
-title: 'conda-forge community'
+title: 'The conda-forge community'
 ---
 
 # Community