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While updating my packages I've noticed that there is a package named "matplotlib-base". I couldn't figure out what the difference to "matplotlib" is, neither on the official website nor here on Stack Overflow, and I also couldn't find any repository to compare the code. Any ideas?

matplotlib / matplotlib-base

cel
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Andreas
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    difference is in the dependencies: matplotlib-base does not depend on the qt stack and is thus much lighter. It allows other packages to depend on matplotlib via matplot-base, without forcing users to also install the qt stack in their environment – cel Apr 20 '20 at 15:24
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    I see, that's good to know, thanks @cel! – Andreas Apr 20 '20 at 15:26
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    Just found the reference for that: https://conda-forge.org/docs/maintainer/knowledge_base.html#matplotlib – cel Apr 20 '20 at 15:27

1 Answers1

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The packages are similar, but differ in their dependencies: matplotlib depends on matplotlib-base and pyqt. Therefore installing matplotlib will also pull in the qt stack, while installing matplotlib-base does not. Users that do not need qt backends and prefer a slim installation will prefer matplotlib-base over matplotlib.

See also: https://conda-forge.org/docs/maintainer/knowledge_base.html#matplotlib

cel
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