# Frustrating problems with Pystan (anaconda Python)

**URL:** <https://discourse.mc-stan.org/t/frustrating-problems-with-pystan-anaconda-python/24590>\
**Category:** PyStan\
**Created:** [September 27, 2021, 6:12pm UTC](https://discourse.mc-stan.org/t/frustrating-problems-with-pystan-anaconda-python/24590 "2021-09-27T18:12:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 23

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**Author:** ![rfc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rfc](https://discourse.mc-stan.org/u/rfc)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2021, 10:55pm UTC](https://discourse.mc-stan.org/t/frustrating-problems-with-pystan-anaconda-python/24590/23 "2021-10-15T22:55:34Z")

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Perhaps some of these "how do i even install the dependencies to run the software as a new user on platform x using package managers y and z " problems could be avoided by distributing a self-contained and tested Stan container image with pinned versions of dependencies (compilers, libraries, etc) atop a supported base image (e.g. debian stable).

I see earlier this year @wm1995 shared an example Dockerfile that installs pystan3 atop a python:latest image, which appears to be based on debian 11 bullseye, which is one of the operating systems supported by pystan:

> [@Pystan 3, gcc compilers and Docker images](https://discourse.mc-stan.org/t/pystan-3-gcc-compilers-and-docker-images/21342):
>
> Just thought I’d give a post on some issues that I had setting up PyStan 3, and how I got around them, in case there’s someone else this might help. I tried to get PyStan 3 set up to run in a Docker container, but was getting C++ compiler error messages about an undefined symbol nested in a lengthy Python error traceback when executing the stan.build() method. The reason for this seems to be a dependency on gcc ≥9.0 (or clang ≥10.0) - this is now stated in the documentation to the httpstan modu…

With a container image there would still be a bit of a learning barrier for new users unfamiliar with wrangling container images: e.g. how do i run a container image locally (in this case installing docker for mac or perhaps an alternative like podman), how do i configure volume mounts and port forwarding to be able to share data and source code with a container or view a notebook hosted in the container – but there would no longer be any opportunity for users to accidentally pick combinations of build environments and package managers that aren’t supported or don’t work.

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