Hello, That's not a new idea, but I'd like to throw it here again. Some modules/packages in the stdlib are pretty isolated, which means that they could be upgraded with no harm, independently from the rest. For example the unittest package, or the email package. Here's an idea: 1 - add a version number in each package or module of the stdlib that is potentially upgradable 2 - create standalone releases of these modules/packages at PyPI, in a restricted area 'stdlib upgrades' that can be used only by core devs to upload new versions. Each release lists the precise Python versions it's compatible with. 3 - once distutils2 is back in the stdlib, provide a command line interface to list upgradable packages, and make it possible to upgrade them 4 - an upgraded package lands in a new specific site-packages directory and is loaded *before* the one in Lib Regards Tarek -- Tarek Ziadé | http://ziade.org