At 02:14 PM 3/22/2008 +0000, Paul Moore wrote:

For the system Python, I need: - a single way to list what's installed (including version) - a single way to uninstall items as needed - a way (or more than one) to install 3rd party software *which ties into the above*

Right, and the PEP effort is devoted to having one way to store the information required, to tie these things together. If there is a standard way to store that info on your system, then it doesn't matter how many tools there are, you still have your "one way" to list what's installed or to uninstall things, because you just pick the one lister and/or uninstaller whose UI you prefer.