[Python-Dev] Python-3.0, unicode, and os.environ (original) (raw)

Guido van Rossum guido at python.org
Sat Dec 6 18:05:23 CET 2008

On Fri, Dec 5, 2008 at 8:57 PM, Tres Seaver <tseaver at palladion.com> wrote:

Amen! the idea that paths, environment varioables, and stuff pulled off of sockets can be treated as text rather than strings is just wishful thinking.

Unfortunately most of the programmers of the world do think that way(*), and it's not easy to wean them off the idea. It's a powerful meme that you can use your own name as a file name, even if you happen to be Czech or Vietnamese -- and it's promoted by the two most popular consumer operating systems.

(*) With the exception of sockets. Sockets are typically dealt with through protocols and APIs that provide guidance about how to convert between bytes and strings, and whether that is even a meaningful operation.

-- --Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)

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