"if I was teaching someone Django/Python development from scratch today, I would definitely include pip, virtualenv, and git/mercurial as part of the baseline."

They DO show you how to use pip, git, and virtualenv.

Check out the overview: http://www.tangowithdjango.com/book/chapters/overview.html#w...

One of the first things they explain is how to use pip: http://www.tangowithdjango.com/book/chapters/requirements.ht...

They also show how to get started with git: http://www.tangowithdjango.com/book/chapters/git.html#git-cr...

and virtualenv: http://www.tangowithdjango.com/book/chapters/requirements.ht...

edit: I actually think I might have misunderstood your comment. Sorry. Anyway, just leaving this comment here for posterity.