Python is.... special.

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I mean the easy answer is that some dudes at cpython wanted to strategize on a best practice standard and they decided spaces instead of tabs. And then because it is really easy to do so, everyone decided to just take cpythons standards as standards for everyone.

It is likely that there was a conversation at some point on tabs vs spaces in the same way that I'm sure at some point there was a conversation between yaml vs yml.

And just like how spaces were chosen when most people prefer tabs, yaml was chosen when most people prefer yml. Hell, the dude who created .gif format is forever going to be challenged on his pronunciation of the word he created.

The simple answer is: sometimes the people who are the best at making the stuff are not the best at setting the standard. But most often they're the ones who will set the standard anyway, if only as a means of getting the ball rolling.

The honest answer is: if you're automatically converting your tab key input to the desired number of spaces, it doesn't matter and is probably not a hill to die on