I've created the following ticket for Setuptools: https://bitbucket.org/pypa/setuptools/issue/35/code-base-modernization I'm inviting junior developers or students or other less experienced enthusiasts who are interested in learning more about the inner workings of Setuptools to assist in a code modernization effort to bring Setuptools more in line with the expectations of modern Python developers. If this effort might interest you, please follow the link for more details. Regards, Jason