> I just did some tests and could not find any major difference. 
> Which are the differences you found?

diff utility doesn't provide any output since the compared files are
binary. As far as I can tell the two files have a different size
(tarfile generates a little bigger file).
Moreover, by using 7zip on Windows I notice that the archive generated
by tarfile module looks different. Once I open it I see the following
structure:

dist (directory) -> archive_name.tar -> archive_name (directory) ->
other subfiles

...while the archive generated with the UNIX tar utility looks like this:

archive_name.tar -> archive_name (directory) -> other subfiles

> BTW, in your patch the "dist" directory is not automatically created.

You're right. patch2.zip file in attachment fixes that.