I agree, though also I note Python has an extensive standard library and isn't much better in terms of package sprawl.

Yeah, Python is a cautionary tale here, and I think one that informed the Rust stance.

Python is much older than Go, and has had more packages move from 3rd party into the stdlib to become a "battery", and then atrophy over the years while people move back to 3rd party alternatives with more features that are actually receiving maintenance. Eventually some of those modules were removed from core.

Perhaps the Go model only works when you have a very dedicated core group (for Go, mostly Google employees) around to continuously build and maintain the Cathedral of the standard library + toolchain together. Golang feels very much like UNIX (eg FreeBSD) for this reason, and Rust/Python more like Linux.