conda-forge packages

Read the conda-forge adding_pkgs documentation first, then inspect DSS_Python's current packaging and the decoupled DSS C-API build setup. Run the basic DSS_Python tests mentioned in the issue; done means a working conda-forge recipe and passing package tests, with support considerations addressed for the listed platforms.

Moving my comment below into a new ticket now that conda packages are available at https://anaconda.org/dss-extensions/dss_python

It's a good idea to revisit this later, providing a conda-forge recipe. Conda-forge dropped 32-bit packages a while ago, but providing DSS_Python and OpenDSSDirect.py on conda-forge is valuable. The 32-bit packages would still be available on PyPI (they're useful especially for testing).

For me, conda itself has been kind of a letdown the past few years. I imagined the commercial interest doesn't align well with it. The Anaconda.org repositories frequently have issues, reported both for DSS_Python (most people download it from PyPI anyway) and NILMTK (the recommended install method is conda due to the dependencies).

Conda-build, specifically, is really bad on Windows. Even if I can build normal/wheel packages easily on Windows, conda-build craps itself on the minimum unexpected thing that Anaconda didn't expect. There are many unresolved tickets with no useful feedback, some for multiple years.

Some third-party projects like Mamba (replaces the conda installation tool) and Boa (replaces conda-build) might help things.

To alleviate things and save my time, I'll investigate conda-forge tooling and settings since it should reduce the maintenance of conda-packages here. If successful, might be worth to officially submit the packages to the conda-forge repository. Conda-forge also supports ARM64 and (limited) PyPy, which the official conda repos don't.

Docs: https://conda-forge.org/docs/maintainer/adding_pkgs.html

Since we decoupled DSS C-API builds from DSS_Python a while ago, shouldn't be too hard. Before submitting the new packages to conda-forge, it's better to provide some basic tests in DSS_Python too.

About PyPy:

• https://github.com/conda-forge/conda-forge.github.io/issues/867
• https://conda-forge.org/docs/maintainer/knowledge_base.html#pypy-builds

EDIT: there is now (Feb 2024) whl2conda; not sure it that's acceptable for conda-forge, but it's an option if we want to distribute conda packages again