Why are packages installed rather than just linked to a specific environment? : <p>I've noticed that normally when packages are installed using various package managers (for python), they are installed in <code>/home/user/anaconda3/envs/env_name/</code> on conda and in <code>/home/user/anaconda3/envs/env_name/lib/python3.6/lib-packages/</code> using pip on conda. </p>

<p>But conda caches all the recently downloaded packages too.</p>

<p>So, my question is:
Why doesn't conda install all the packages on a central location and then when installed in a specific environment create a link to the directory rather than installing it there?</p>

<p>I've noticed that environments grow quite big and that this method would probably be able to save a bit of space.</p>
