Open source Enthought Python alternative [closed]

Question

I used Enthought's python distribution as a graduate student for data analysis and really enjoyed it. But I've recently taken a job which takes away my ability to use it.

I prefer Python for initial scoping and cleaning the data, and R for the stats side. Part of the impetus for wanting this though, is trying out pandas. And other other part is I don't have proper license (or the means to pay), which is clearly a problem.

So is there some other well put together easy to install Python distribution that I can get numpy, scipy, sci-kits, and all the other goodness?

Mesothorax

Concering pandas: it installs very easy via pip. – Guesthouse

I suspect you will spend over $200 in labor trying to find a work-around. I'm impressed with the amount of support and development that Enthought provides to the Python community and I would encourage folks to support them (no, I don't work for them). Your time costs your employer money. Enthought saves you time, which saves them money. – Lobar

I've spent a good amount of time trying to find various work arounds for lack of code at times, having Enthought readily available makes my life much easier. For time v money, Enthought is well worth the cost. – Melchor

Enthought's EPD Free does not install on my Windows machine. Having alternatives is a good thing (tm). – Pemba

Just a related comment: After struggling to install PyPi packages into Enthought Canopy and finding very little help on the web, I came up with this solution that I want to share: gist.github.com/riaanvddool/5412311 – Adaline

Answer 1

On MacOSX, there is ScipySuperpack.

On Linux, there are... Linux distributions :) If you want recent builds on Debian and Ubuntu I recommend: http://neuro.debian.net/

Bander

Answer 2

If you are one Windows, I can advise pythonxy for an easy and painless installation of Python and the core scientific libraries.

It is quite large and contains a lot of packages, which you maybe do not need, but at the installation, you can opt to choose which libraries to install.

Hobbism

+1, I find myself on windows more and more so this may be a good option. I may accept later, but I want to see if a mac installation comes in. Thanks. – Mesothorax

+1, PythonXY is a great option for Windows... hopefully they pull together a 64-bit version soon. Quality is close to EPD, but not quite there. – Pohai

Answer 3

Have you seen EPD free?

From the enthought website:

Our new lightweight distribution of scientific Python essentials: SciPy, NumPy, IPython, matplotlib, Traits, & Chaco

it might be enough to get you started.

Woolpack

I currently have EPD free for python2.7 and I am playing with my own build of scipy/numpy + pandas in python3.+. Pandas looks great. Enthought is great. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. I generally find plotting doesn't work perfectly across all plotforms in anything except EPD. – Revkah

Answer 4

You might at first exhale "what is he smoking?" to my answer, but here it comes as an echo to ogrisel's answer:

The best Python distribution is Debian GNU/Linux -- it comes with multiple versions of Python supported, hundreds (if not thousands) of Python modules and extensions packaged so their installation is guaranteed to be flawless (in 99% of the cases) regardless how complex underlying software/extension is, majority of them are unit-tested against supported versions and 3rd party modules at package build-time guaranteeing lack of head-ache later on.

Besides Python itself you can also choose there among a dozen of available Python IDEs (e.g. spyder, Eric, PIDA, and others), Python-aware editors (vim, emacs etc), alternative Python implementations (pypy), compilers (Cython, nuitka), etc. Debug build of Python (python-dbg) in tandem with gdb allow you right away debug your extensions while inspecting Python stack etc. And all of those Python-specific tools are available within the same software management framework as the rest of the system which carries thousands of generic and specialized software tools and resources. Depending on your demand you can choose between stable, testing and unstable Debian "suites".

Now "how": virtualization if you cannot or just prefer not to dual-boot. In a matter of minutes you can have a full blown system work on your Windows or OS X box without any major performance hit (unless you need heavy 3D graphics), and only need sufficient amount of RAM to share with your host OS needs -- you can easily access your host drive space within a virtual machine, see e.g. http://neuro.debian.net/vm.html for an easy starting point.

Ah right -- pandas, we provide backport builds from NeuroDebian repository, so you could easily use stable Debian and bleeding-edge pandas.

Heterogony

Answer 5

Also check out Anaconda by Continuum Analytics. It includes numpy, scipy, pandas, and "all the other goodness". Available for Linux, Windows, and MacOS. Anaconda Community Edition is free and active.

Here's a complete list of packages it includes: http://docs.continuum.io/anaconda/pkgs.html

Lapidify

Answer 6

Sage. It doesn't have the GUI tools of Enthought but otherwise contains a full scientific python stack.

Bedfellow

Answer 7

For Windows, there is also WinPython: "WinPython is a free open-source portable distribution of the Python programming language for Windows XP/7/8, designed for scientists, supporting both 32bit and 64bit versions of Python 2 and Python 3."

Lacking

Answer 8

You can always try Portable Python, it comes with numpy, scipy and pandas included, together with other libraries, IDEs and goodies :-)

Borzoi