[Python-Dev] __file__ and bytecode-only

[Jim Jewett]

I understand the need to ship without source -- but why does that
require supporting .pyc (or .pyo) -only?

Couldn't vendors just replace the real .py files with empty files?

Then no one would need the extra stat call, and no one would be bitten
by orphaned .pyc files after a rename.

[Yes, zips could still allow unmatched names; yes, it would be helpful
if a tool were available to sync the last-modification time; yes a
deprecation release should still be needed.]

-jJ