I'm more of an R programming who uses Python when it fits better.
and being seven years late, I didn't realize the built-in Python virtual environment, venv, got deprecated in 3.6.
apparently now pyenv is recommended. I've luckily used it in the past, but set up time is variable and sometimes not as straight forward, especially on a non-WSL Windows setup.
@isagalaev ah good catch! should've reread it a couple more times. trying to catch up on all these updates after being away for a couple of years is hard.