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Concepts
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.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   channels
   generating-index
   recipe
   package-naming-conv

What is a “package”?
--------------------

* A package is anything you install using your package manager.

* A "conda package" is a compressed tarball that contains

  * the module to be installed

  * information on how to install the package

* You can use conda-build to build a conda package.

What about channels?
--------------------

* Channels contain packages.

* They conform to a standard structure and contain an index of available packages.

* An index of the available packages can be generated by running:

.. code-block:: bash

  $ conda index <path to channel>

* conda is able to install from channels and uses the indexes in the channel to
  solve for requirements and dependencies.