If curses is a core facility now, the default build should tread it as one. ... IMO ssl isn't an issue because it's not documented as being in the standard module set. ... 3. Documented as being in the core but not built in by default. My more general claim is that the existence of class 3 is a problem
In the case of curses, I believe there is a documentation error in the 2.0 documentation. The curses packages is listed under "Generic Operating System Services". I believe this is wrong, it should be listed as "Unix Specific Services". Unless I'm mistaken, the curses module is not available on the Mac and on Windows. With that change, the curses module would then fall into Eric's category 2 (Not documented as being in the core and not built in by default). That documentation change should be carried out even if curses is autoconfigured; autoconf is used on Unix only, either. Regards, Martin P.S. The "Python Library Reference" content page does not mention the word "core" at all, except as part of asyncore...