I understand the difference, but I'm just curious if anyone has any strong feelings toward using one over the other? I was reading that a disadvantage to the more general usage (i.e. env) is that it finds the first python on the path, and that might not be the proper one to use. I don't know if that's a real issue most of the time, but it's at least something to consider.
And is Python found in directories other than /usr/bin often enough to justify using the more general form? -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list