I'm not considering myself as a python hacker, but a python enthusiast. I have been working with Django (not python, if you know what I mean) for over a year, and never used pip!!

Shame on me, but a few days ago, I finally make up my mind and setting up a virtual environment and start using pip. Then I cleaned up my system of unnecessary python packages, only used by my web apps. I followed this excellent article of Michal Karczynski.

Using pip and virtualenv was like an epiphany, my work is all about minimizing all laborious tasks, and defining a per-project setup.

Now, what provides Python and VirtualEnv? Easy answer: order and DRY.