Providing miniconda with FSKlab as replacement for R and Python?

[llavall]

I was wondering if it would make sense to ship an optional miniconda environment via FSKlab.

This would allow to make use of all features around conda and R and Python can be integreated to - as preinstalled environment or in order to save space as automatic installation in settings like KNIME is doing it.

This would be similar to the R shipped at the moment, but opens the whole set of options Miniconda3 offers. And since we want to fully support Miniconda3 anyway...

By the way - it should be Miniconda3 and NOT Anaconda3, because Anaconda is huge.

The most important here would be to use only trusted sources for the software/packages!

Lars

[miguelalba]

The challenge is not to include a miniconda distribution as an Eclipse fragment but to use it from our plugins. Our FSK-Lab plugins are configured to look for our R distribution first and user-provided R secondly. I had to bring the R backend from KNIME and patch it to be used by our plugins. We would need to the same for Python unless the Python backend from KNIME can automatically locate condo environments in the disk. Can we not ask KNIME to provide the distribution? Maybe they have plans for it?

[llavall]

KNIME is asking the user to use Python directly or via Conda, as well as for the path and to create the environments. FSKlab could either use the settings from installed Python and R nodes or just provide a setting area similar to KNIME to configure that. If you deliver Miniconda3 you know where it is going to be saved and therefore know the path for conda and the environments (if they are not provided by FSKlab the user does the same as for the Python nodes and the path is known as well). I guess all functionalities needed are already provided by KNIME.

[mfilter]

I like the idea, but I don't see the necessary resources to work (including all necessary end user testing) on that now. We keep this idea for later. Thx