Sure that's "the word on the street" so to speak, but is pip really so much of an improvement over easy_install (or buildout, no experience with it) ? Don't get me wrong, I like and use pip as much as of the next python guy, but I often get the impression that pip (and virtualenv) have an almost fanboyish charm; many/most of their advocates just ape each other and they'd be strongly pressed to explain why they are so much better than the alternatives (if they are even aware of them).