Most ship python 3.3, but most of the libraries which the distro provides pre-compiled are not Python 3.<p>e.g.<p>python-mysql
python-django
python-keyczar
python-pyhsm<p>&gt; but for node we expect everyone to install&#x2F;build from source an not use the supplied packages<p>This is not necessarily an improvement in the state of packaging. Verifying that unsigned source code has not been changed is a hard problem (which NPM has not yet solved). Installing compilation tools and extensive header files on a production machine opens up a new class of security vulnerabilities on that machine (whether a VM, container, or bare metal).