Test Conda environment installation using Pixi for pre-course setup

[fasterius]

One alternative for making pre-course setup simpler for students is to use multi-environment Pixi with a lockfile, which are then interacted with during the course using Conda rather than Pixi. This would possibly simplify the pre-course setup for the students (with the addition that they would need to install Pixi), as compared to (1) the current setup with one Conda environment per tutorial, and (2) using platform-specific Conda lockfiles (see #284). Our goals are to have a simple pre-course setup that students can run without needing to understand everything (as they'll learn it during the course), but keep to using Conda (as that is still the most common tool both used and integrated into other tools and workflows existing).

[fasterius]

A problem would be that all environments would be installed in .pixi/envs, which would be counter to how Conda does things.

[mahesh-panchal]

Be aware that unlike conda, multiple environments in Pixi are a two step process. You define features in which dependencies are defined, and then the env enables those features. I.e. when you do pixi add for example, you add to a feature, rather than an env. I've not tried this though and if it helps with conflicts or makes them because two features for example are incompatible.

[mahesh-panchal]

A problem would be that all environments would be installed in .pixi/envs, which would be counter to how Conda does things.

Note, that pixi supports detached environments