[python] Installing pip packages to $HOME folder

Is it possible? When installing pip, install the python packages inside my $HOME folder. (for example, I want to install mercurial, using pip, but inside $HOME instead of /usr/local)

I'm with a mac machine and just thought about this possibility, instead of "polluting" my /usr/local, I would use my $HOME instead.

PEP370 is exactly about this. Is just creating a ˜/.local and do a pip install package enough to make these packages to be installed only at my $HOME folder?

I would use virtualenv at your HOME directory.

$ sudo easy_install -U virtualenv
$ cd ~
$ virtualenv .
$ bin/pip ...

You could then also alter ~/.(login|profile|bash_profile), whichever is right for your shell to add ~/bin to your PATH and then that pip|python|easy_install would be the one used by default.

You can specify the -t option (--target) to specify the destination directory. See pip install --help for detailed information. This is the command you need:

pip install -t path_to_your_home package-name

for example, for installing say mxnet, in my $HOME directory, I type:

pip install -t /home/foivos/ mxnet