.pth files are why I can't easily use GNU stow with easy_install. If installing a Python package involved writing new files into the filesystem, but did not require reading, updating, and re-writing any extant files such as .pth files, then GNU stow would Just Work with easy_install the way it Just Works with most things.
Regards, Zooko -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list