title: Should the Conda (base) environment be kept up to date?
body: <p>I'm happily using <a href="https://docs.conda.io/projects/conda/en/latest/" rel="noreferrer">Conda</a> via the <a href="https://docs.conda.io/en/latest/miniconda.html#" rel="noreferrer">miniconda</a> install to manage python environments.</p>
  
  <p>After install, I leave the <code>base</code> environment alone and create new environments for new projects. Then I <code>conda env update</code> these environments as needed. However, I'm not sure this is the right approach.</p>
  
  <p>Should the <code>base</code> environment be <code>conda env update</code>ed before creating new environments?</p>
  
  <p>I <em>think</em> this would keep disk usage lower as, my possibly incorrect understanding is, Conda links packages to the <code>base</code> environment when creating new environments if the package and dependencies exactly match.</p>
  
  <p>Although... that doesn't make much sense as they could easily get out of sync. Maybe it just saves on bandwidth as matching packages can be copied instead of downloaded?</p>
  
  <p>If every project has it's own environment does it matter if the <code>base</code> environment is kept up to date? </p>