Explanation about Miniconda environments

Question

I'm new using Jupyter on Miniconda and I was having a problem while importing packages ( ImportError: DLL load failed ), looking for answers the solution was to initialize a base environment in my bash.

I used to initialize jupyter typing jupyter notebook in bash, but using the solution given, I have to activate conda activate bash and then type jupyter notebook . What is the difference between starting Jupyter the way I used to and this new way?

Answer 1

conda activate command activates a virtual environment. It is an isolated environment so all packages you installed in the virtual environment cannot be used outside it. When you start bash, you are in the base environment and it seems that you installed your Jupiter in bash environment so you cannot use bash's Jupiter in base environment and vice versa. It may be a little annoying at the beginning, but it can let you use different environments for different purposes. For example, since pip only allows one version of a specific package to be installed, different environments can let you test a new version of a package without breaking the functionality of the original program.