rTree in Conda distribution

[DanRunfola]

Hi all -

I'm linking this issue from geopandas to the feedstock:
geopandas/geopandas#1261

=== Copied text below:
Hey guys -

Ok, so it's possible I'm doing something wrong here, but when I run this command:

conda install -c conda-forge/label/gcc7 geopandas python=3.6.8 -n python3.6

I get rtree as a dependency from conda:

The following NEW packages will be INSTALLED:

    cycler:           0.10.0-py_1              conda-forge/label/gcc7
    dbus:             1.13.12-h746ee38_0                             
    descartes:        1.1.0-py_2               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    geopandas:        0.4.0-py_1               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    gst-plugins-base: 1.14.0-hbbd80ab_1                              
    gstreamer:        1.14.0-hb453b48_1                              
    kiwisolver:       1.0.1-py36h6bb024c_1002  conda-forge/label/gcc7
    matplotlib:       3.0.2-py36h8a2030e_1001  conda-forge/label/gcc7
    matplotlib-base:  3.0.2-py36h167e16e_1001  conda-forge/label/gcc7
    palettable:       3.1.1-py_0               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    patsy:            0.5.0-py_1               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    psycopg2:         2.8.4-py36h1ba5d50_0                           
    pyparsing:        2.2.1-py_0               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    pyqt:             5.6.0-py36h13b7fb3_1008  conda-forge/label/gcc7
    pysal:            2.0.0-py_0                                     
    qt:               5.6.3-h8bf5577_3                               
    rtree:            0.8.3-py36_0                                   
    scipy:            1.3.2-py36h7c811a0_0                           
    seaborn:          0.9.0-py_0               conda-forge/label/gcc7
    sip:              4.18.1-py36hf484d3e_1000 conda-forge/label/gcc7
    sqlalchemy:       1.2.16-py36h14c3975_1000 conda-forge/label/gcc7
    statsmodels:      0.9.0-py36h3010b51_1000  conda-forge/label/gcc7
    tornado:          5.1.1-py36h14c3975_1000  conda-forge/label/gcc7

I can definitely see value in including rtree, but would it be possible to include a branch without rtree included?

Thanks for any thoughts and feedback on this!
Dan

[ocefpaf]

From geopandas/geopandas#1261 (comment) you suggest a geopandas-base. That is doable and won't disturb current users installing geopandas (that would depend on base).

Do you want to send a PR to implement that? If so take a look at the matplotlib recipe for inspiration.

[DanRunfola]

Happy to move in that direction; it might be helpful to think through what good candidates for 'disclusion' might be. I.e., rtree is a very obvious one, but any other dependencies to think about?

[ocefpaf]

but any other dependencies to think about?

@jorisvandenbossche knows better but I assume everything else, including rtree, are considered mandatory dependencies. See #59 for a longer discussion on the topic.

[jorisvandenbossche]

I am attempting to create a geopandas-base (without rtree) in #90