So I use miniconda and was trying to install pyperclip from conda-forge but by mistake I capitalized the name so I run:
conda install -c Conda-Forge pyperclip
(Note the capital letters). The output was:
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done
## Package Plan ##
environment location: C:\Users\USUARIO\miniconda3
added / updated specs:
- pyperclip
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
ca-certificates-2021.10.8 | h5b45459_0 176 KB Conda-Forge
certifi-2021.10.8 | py39hcbf5309_1 145 KB Conda-Forge
conda-4.11.0 | py39hcbf5309_0 16.8 MB Conda-Forge
openssl-1.1.1l | h8ffe710_0 5.7 MB Conda-Forge
pyperclip-1.8.2 | pyhd8ed1ab_2 14 KB Conda-Forge
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 22.9 MB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
pyperclip Conda-Forge/noarch::pyperclip-1.8.2-pyhd8ed1ab_2
The following packages will be SUPERSEDED by a higher-priority channel:
ca-certificates conda-forge --> Conda-Forge
certifi conda-forge --> Conda-Forge
conda conda-forge --> Conda-Forge
openssl conda-forge --> Conda-Forge
I was suspicious that it was trying to install openssl so I canceled and retyped the command with correct capitalization:
conda install -c conda-forge pyperclip
And got the following:
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: done
## Package Plan ##
environment location: C:\Users\USUARIO\miniconda3
added / updated specs:
- pyperclip
The following packages will be downloaded:
package | build
---------------------------|-----------------
pyperclip-1.8.2 | pyhd8ed1ab_2 14 KB conda-forge
------------------------------------------------------------
Total: 14 KB
The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:
pyperclip conda-forge/noarch::pyperclip-1.8.2-pyhd8ed1ab_2
Can anybody explain this? What is the difference between conda-forgeand Conda-Forge?
As @MattThompson pointed out in the comments, they both go to the same place in the end, so not a security issue.
As to why it makes this switch for these specific packages, it has to do with the aggressive_update_packages configuration setting. That is partially discussed in this answer. Briefly, whenever the user requests to mutate the environment, Conda will attempt to update these packages. Additionally, whenever one uses the -c flag, they are declaring the specified channel to have the highest priority. Here that is Conda-forge, but if one had put -c defaults -c Conda-forge, it would’ve tried to install those same packages from defaults instead.
In this specific case, the effect would just be a matter of some bookkeeping that is done in the conda-meta/history file, which appears to be case-sensitive. While it would track it internally as a change in the channel, it wouldn’t actually change the package.