task: check.pep440 fails on importing `pkg_resources` and then on running the actual task

[befeleme]

Maintenance questions:
When reviewing #799, I noticed the task in tasks/check.py has been added 10 years ago and doesn't seem to be invoked in the CI envs. I'm not sure it's still needed.
Issues: When invoked, it fails on missing pkg_resources (I use Python 3.12). When installing setuptools to the environment, another exception is raised after downloading 4-5 items.

xmlrpc.client.Fault: <Fault -32500: 'HTTPTooManyRequests: The action could not be performed because there were too many requests by the client.'>

I don't have any need for this task, just raising the issue for visibility.