> Pull in package from npm and it is nowhere near usable until you figure out where it actually puts the files you care. You only know it's somewhere in `node_pacakges/`.

Not usable for what? All you need to do is `npm install package` then in your project `const package = require('package')` and it's usable. Also, it's `node_modules`, and gulp itself is a task runner for... Node, so I don't understand your point there.