clarification on install for basic LIGO software usage

I would like to define a clear prescription for how basic users (not computer experts) can install conda for basic LIGO software usage, that includes a clear upgrade path and doesn't require a bunch of manual configuration and system twiddling for users to be able to maintain their setup.

From this issue it seems like there are problems when users install a base system from anaconda/miniconda and then install LIGO software from conda-forge into the base environment. This is unfortunate, since it seems to preclude what would be a simple setup: install conda, enable conda-forge, install desired LIGO software package, run simple conda command to update system.

The fact that the above doesn't work seems to mean that users need to maintain a special environment. But the problem with environments is that they seem to pin to specific packages versions, and there seems to be no built-in way to update the packages in the environment without downloading an new environment file that specifies the new versions of the packages to upgrade to. This is the reason behind the unfortunate "trick" that suggests manually defining a special shell function to do upgrade:

https://computing.docs.ligo.org/conda/tips/#managing-your-own-igwn-environments

Telling users to create their own shell functions is not nice for users, nor for admins and others who are trying to help support regular users. But users who don't do this have no simple way to upgrade packages in their environment, which is a very common and necessary task.

I don't have a good alternate suggestion right now, since I don't understand all the capabilities of conda, but I do assert that the current situation will likely lead to a lot of people neglecting to keep their packages upgraded, and will put an unnecessary burden on users and other support staff who are trying to help keep users up-to-date.