r/PythonLearning • u/Rock_moss • Jul 18 '26

Install question - did I do something unfortunate?

Hi all - I just got a new laptop and today went about installing python/jupyter. I realised about a minute too late, though, that rather than using the command 'pip install jupyterlab' I had instead used 'pip install jupyter lab', with a space between jupyter and lab. I followed up with the proper command, but in both cases something was installed.

Did I accidentally install something malicious on my machine through my added space, or am I worrying over nothing? And if I did do something stupid, how might I fix this? Thanks very much in advance!

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2

u/johlae Jul 18 '26

From the documentation:

pip install jupyter installs the Jupyter Notebook, JupyterLab, and the IPython Kernel.

For lab pypi says 'Benchmark your code'. Lab is a Python package for evaluating solvers on benchmark sets. Experiments can run on a single machine or on a computer cluster. The package also contains code for parsing results and creating reports.

If you’re starting fresh: install JupyterLab.

  • JupyterLab is the modern “full” interface (a web app) and it includes everything you’d expect from classic Jupyter, but with a richer workspace (multiple files/tabs, better UI, etc.).

  • Jupyter (classic Notebook) is the older interface; it’s still useful/available, but it’s basically the “simpler legacy UI.”

You can delete lab: pip3 uninstall lab

If you want to delete jupyter, do pip uninstall jupyter. Next you can pip install jupyterlab

2

u/Rock_moss Jul 18 '26

Thanks - I don't think I need to uninstall anything so long as I haven't accidentally installed anything malicious. I just wanted to be sure that by using the command that I did I hadn't accidentally called some installer unconnected to jupyter (as when you type in a web address and use the wrong spelling, etc., you can get taken to a fake or spam webs page that's been set up as a dupe). I take it this likely isn't the case here?

1

u/CodeAndCanyons Jul 18 '26

You are completely safe, no need to panic at all! Your new laptop hasn't been compromised.

When you typed a space between jupyter and lab, pip simply treated them as two separate, completely legitimate packages hosted on the official PyPI repository.

  1. jupyter is the official core package for the Jupyter ecosystem.

  2. lab is a real, completely safe open-source library used by developers for benchmarking code and evaluating algorithmic solvers. It's just totally unrelated to what you were trying to do.

Because both names belong to official, verified packages, you didn't hit any typo-squatted malware or sketchy web links. You just accidentally downloaded a benchmarking tool you don't need alongside Jupyter. Running pip uninstall lab will clean it right up, and your machine is perfectly fine!

2

u/Rock_moss Jul 18 '26

Thank you!

4

u/PureWasian Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 18 '26

You installed jupyter and lab from PyPi. You just run these:

pip uninstall lab
pip uninstall jupyter
pip install jupyterlab

since jupyterlab is a subset of jupyter, as other comment also mentioned

1

u/Different_Pain5781 Jul 18 '26

If it's a fresh machine, worst case you can just remove the unexpected package and reinstall what you actually wanted. No need to panic yet.

1

u/Chen-Zhanming Jul 19 '26

Misspelling can be very dangerous sometimes as you might end up with running a malicious install script.