ralf schmitt zsobrpgmailcom thu mar 20 2008 309 pm martin v löwis wrote quite possible say isnt desirable 26 30 able run code even possible havent heard opinion hope isnt common need discussion prepare longer answer 2to3 conversion supplemented possible gradual code path started write answer already going take id rather would wasteful indeed people think 3k actively aggressively deliberately break 2x code however decided carved stone 3k must include transitional features serve purpose allow running 2x code therefore wont get utext alternative text wont get unicode builtin transitional mechanisms either get 2x 2to3 implemented python 26 something like future import unicode_string_literals also solve lennarts problem py3k would need support future import forbidden wed 06 aug 2008 174101 0100 python3000 utext alias text