pip is a replacement for easy_install (from pysetuptools). It uses mostly the
same techniques for finding packages, so packages that were made
easy_installable should be pip-installable as well.
pip is meant to improve on easy_install. Some of the improvements:
- All packages are downloaded before installation. Partially-completed
installation doesn't occur as a result.
- Care is taken to present useful output on the console.
- The reasons for actions are kept track of. For instance, if a package is
being installed, pip keeps track of why that package was required.
- Error messages should be useful.
- The code is relatively concise and cohesive, making it easier to use
programmatically.
- Packages don't have to be installed as egg archives, they can be installed
flat (while keeping the egg metadata).
- Native support for other version control systems (Git, Mercurial and Bazaar).
- Uninstallation of packages.
- Simple to define fixed sets of requirements and reliably reproduce a set of
packages.
pip is complementary with virtualenv (can be found at SBo), and it is
encouraged that you use virtualenv to isolate your installation.
pip requires pysetuptools.