Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Dependency management, including Python version and compiler toolchain, is becoming a significant impediment to development (see #1507)

Describe the solution you'd like

PyME will be containerized so that it’s no longer dependent on the user-space software environment of the host machine (beyond the container management system, obviously). Ideally, this will involve only the addition of Docker-specific files.

Requirements

(as mentioned in #1606)

• Decouple app python, dependencies, and tooling from anything installed in system’s user-space
• Make work that's done in one place able to be brought elsewhere without requiring perfect knowledge upfront of what was done to make it work, or what exists in the new place
• Capture any hardware pass-through requirements for targeted container management systems (Docker & Singularity are the ones I need)
• Ensure app can run as not-root
• Ensure GUI (via wxPython) works in targeted environments
• Create documentation section (if needed)

Targeted Environments

• Windows 11 Pro + Docker (engine 28+, compose 2.x)
• MacOS + Docker
• Linux + Singularity

Targeted Versions

• Docker:
  • Engine: >= 28
  • Compose: 2.x
• Singularity: CE >= v3.11

Describe alternatives you've considered

We have tried various Python package managers and build systems, and issues still arise between dependencies as stated in requirements.txt and whatever happens to be installed on the host machine.

Are you prepared to work on it?

I am prepared to carry this thing to completion.