On the other hand, with CentOS you have to step off the beaten track and do things by hand more frequently - for example, where CentOS comes with Exactly One Py

On the other hand, with CentOS you have to step off the beaten track and do things by hand more frequently - for example, where CentOS comes with Exactly One Python Version, and everything Python-related is packaged against it, Debian comes with multiple Python versions, and anything Python-related you install automatically gets set up to work with whatever (compatible) Python versions you have installed.