Yes, it is a difference in philosophy. Here is a blog post from 3 years ago where the libs team explored making an official set of libs to more closely match a "batteries included" experience: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2017/05/05/libz-blitz.html

This effort did not end up succeeding. Instead, a more organic, informal process seems to be working pretty well. Lists like this seem to be useful, even if none is officially blessed.