https://docs.python.org/3/installing/index.html is too subtle in pointing out the command in a source build or system Python on POSIX is "pip3" or "pip3.4" rather than the unadorned "pip".

At least one example should show pip3, and it's likely worth having an explanation in the last section on building from source.

If you want to be completely unambiguous, python -m pip works as well.

Yes, that came up on Twitter as well (where this conversation started).

I think that's the best way to go - it's the only invocation that works *everywhere*, regardless of how your Python instance got installed.

New changeset e8447da8791d by Nick Coghlan in branch '3.4':
Issue #22295: Adopt 'python -m pip' as the preferred invocation
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/e8447da8791d

New changeset a969b42e6e2b by Nick Coghlan in branch 'default':
Merge issue #22295 fix from 3.4
http://hg.python.org/cpython/rev/a969b42e6e2b

Switched to "python -m pip".

To deal with "python3" vs "python" parallel system installs, I made the assumption that folks are using virtual environments explicitly, rather than diving into the arcana associated with using pip in conjunction with a system Python installation.