[Python-ideas] Working with Path objects: p-strings?

[Paul Moore]

On 29 March 2016 at 12:24, Sven R. Kunze <srkunze at mail.de> wrote:
> On 29.03.2016 13:21, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
>>
>> So if I have a Linux file b'\xD8\x01', I can't create a path object to
>> work with it.
>
>
> I actually like this limitation. It forces a cleaner API and cleaner code as
> it is the one way.

However, it does mean that certain use cases are not supported by
pathlib. One of the constant issues with core/stdlib development is
having to consider how the design affects people with needs you don't
personally have. This one's not such a big problem "pathlib doesn't
support non-Unicode filenames" is a simple enough to express
limitation. But that doesn't help the poor guy debugging an issue with
his filesystem-scanning program where a user has a mangled non-Unicode
filename somewhere in the bowels of his profile - does he declare that
user's situation is unsupported, or does he abandon pathlib in favour
of the old os APIs? (And if the , what's the likelihood