Handle Django settings for prod and non-prod environments better

[edwardchalstrey1]

• [x] Think about how this can be easily switched based on the machine/VM the code is running on - should we have separate git branches? (this is how @edwardchalstrey1 does it for dev site at Turing)
• [ ] Find a way to specify the GEOS_LIBRARY_PATH settings based on VM: aarch64 or x86_64 (see the TODO in seshat/settings/base.py)
• Update handling of .env in local.py to be same as base.py using decouple instead of environ
  • This will bring local/dev envs in line with @MajidBenam 's production setup
  • Seems like decouple may be more popular: https://python.libhunt.com/compare-python-decouple-vs-django-environ
  • Edit: on 2nd thought, the reason I used django-environ was to differentiate between non-production (local, test site, GH actions) and production. See inside seshat/settings/base.py where there are several if statements like if not os.path.exists(local_env_path) and not os.getenv('GITHUB_ACTIONS') == 'true': which avoid setting variables from the production "decouple" config. There is probably a more sensible way to refactor this!
  • [ ] Ensure setup docs include how to use config and/or .env

[kallewesterling]

Some good resources here:

• https://djangostars.com/blog/configuring-django-settings-best-practices/
  • recommends python manage.py runserver --settings=settings.local on the command line -- or django_environ
• https://esketchers.com/configuring-django-settings-best-practices/
  • seems to recommend django_environ
• https://apibakery.com/blog/django/django-settings-howto/
  • keep everything in the environment files
• https://itnext.io/best-practices-of-configuring-django-settings-85e5e770f54b
  • recommends python manage.py runserver --settings=settings.local on the command line
• https://www.reddit.com/r/django/comments/t8d8w8/whats_the_best_practice_for_managing_settings_for/
  • has link to Twelve-factor App -- i.e. having everything in the environment -- but also to Django Classy Settings
• https://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/how-to-harden-your-production-django-project
  • recommends django-environ