I'll stop using virutalenv when it actually becomes a hindrance. I know venv exists, but I have precisely zero incentive to use it when virtualenv works and allows me to get on with what I actually want to do.

This is kinda discouraging :)

Of course each project needs it's own virtualenv. In fact, each project should have it's own docker image. Why install an application library to the entire system? That is not a good idea in ANY language.

And of course scripts need to use the right virtualenv. Or better yet - why not put each app in it's own docker? That bundles up everything into a single "file" you can run on command.

All of these things you are listing as downsides seem like things that one normally moves away from, when they put a codebase in git and stop deploying to prod by copying a few files to a shared network drive and restarting the server?????

Those are all bleeding edge developer best practices that didn't exist five years ago. Folks coming from matlab (an example I read above,) probably aren't in the industry and many likely don't even know docker exists OR why they would want to use it.

And the GP was saying that the ruby package manager is more magical then the python package manager... when pip solved all of the complaints mentioned.

Odd.