Why use pip over easy_install?

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A tweet reads:

Don't use easy_install, unless you like stabbing yourself in the face. Use pip.

Why use pip over easy_install? Doesn't the fault lie with PyPI and package authors mostly? If an author uploads crap source tarball (eg: missing files, no setup.py) to PyPI, then both pip and easy_install will fail. Other than cosmetic differences, why do Python people (like in the above tweet) seem to strongly favor pip over easy_install?

(Let's assume that we're talking about easy_install from the Distribute package, that is maintained by the community)

9 Answers

Another—as of yet unmentioned—reason for favoring pip is because it is the new hotness and will continue to be used in the future.

The infographic below—from the Current State of Packaging section in the The Hitchhiker's Guide to Packaging v1.0—shows that setuptools/easy_install will go away in the future.

enter image description here

Here's another infographic from distribute's documentation showing that Setuptools and easy_install will be replaced by the new hotness—distribute and pip. While pip is still the new hotness, Distribute merged with Setuptools in 2013 with the release of Setuptools v0.7.

enter image description here

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