Fine Eric. Thanks for the compliment! In this particular case, I believe that the resistance was more against any official indication that the string module would become obsolete, than against making the changes in the standard library. It was just deemed too much work to make the changes, and because string wasn't going to be obsolete soon, there was little motivation. I'm glad your manic episode took care of that. :-)
In general, though, I must ask you to err on the careful side when the possibility of breaking existing code exists. You can apply the cowboy approach to discussions as well as to coding!
Alcohol still kills more people every year than all `illegal' drugs put together, and Prohibition only made it worse. Oppose the War On Some Drugs!
Hey, finally a signature quote someone from the Netherlands wouldn't find offensive!
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)