[Python-Dev] PYC Magic

[Tim Peters]

[M.-A. Lemburg]
> The reason is that I don't want to break the -U scheme.

But -U doesn't work anyway:

> (-U changes the semantics of the language in a pretty nasty
> way ... nothing works anymore ;-).

The only things -U have bought us are a bizarre definition of "magic
number", code complication, and complaints from people who see -U in the
"python -h" blurb and want to know why everything breaks when they try it.
It may be a hack you want to use for internal testing, but stuff that's been
broken since the day it was introduced, and makes no progress towards
working, doesn't belong in the general release.

> I know it's a hack, but until someone comes up with a better way to
> add flags to store PYC compile options, we'll have to stick with
> it.

But there is no need to store info about PYC compile options:  -U is its
only use now, and -U has never worked.  Since it's worse than useless,
better to throw it out, then dream up a rational way to store PYC compile
options if and when (and only if and when) there's an actual need for such.

What would we lose if we tossed the -U support code?  I can see what we'd
gain.