[Python-Dev] Minimal (single-file) Python?

Hi. Has anyone ever built, or thought about building, a single-file Python, in which all the "basic" capabilities are included in a single executable (where "basic" means "can do as much as the Bourne shell")? Some of the entries in the Software Carpentry competition would like to be able to bootstrap from as small a starting point as possible. Thanks, Greg p.s. I don't think this is the same problem as moving built-in features of Python into optionally-loaded libraries, as some of the things in the 'sys', 'string', and 'os' modules would have to move in the other direction to ensure Bourne shell equivalence.