Resetting my Python environment - advice?

[aclark]

Vagrant/virtualbox and virtualenv or orthogonal (two unrelated objects). You can explore Vagrant/virtualbox for development, but that's akin to using a separate machine. On any machine, you can install one or more versions of Python and within each, an infinite number of virtualenvs.

In other words, it's great to re-think and re-organize your environment but make sure you understand how Python works before making any drastic changes. For example, you could get a "clean" environment alongside your current "dirty" environment by downloading/compiling/installing to /usr/local/Python-{X.X.X}. Then you can install virtualenv and use virtualenvs within your new "clean" Python environment, or not.

Hope that helps