I have personally never had a problem with activating a virtualenv and `pip install`-ing inside it. Most libraries nowadays also specify minimum versions for packages (e.g., >=3.6, <4.0).

I'd guess that, yes, and going forward I may take a 2nd look at virtualenv. That said, I am a little proud and glad I managed to take it this far in this particular instance because I feel it has improved my ability to deal with Pythonic installation gotchas. Pip is a great teaching tool! /s