[Python-Dev] Changing ob_size to [s]size_t

[Tim Peters]

[M.-A. Lemburg]
> What binary compatibility ? I thought we had given that idea
> up after 1.5.2 was out the door (which is also why the Windows
> distutils installers are very picky about the Python version
> to install an extension for).

It's strange.  The binary API has changed with every non-bugfix release
since then, but if you stare at the details, old binaries will almost
certainly work correctly despite the API warning messages.  Guido explained
to me that this is why API mismatch is just a warning instead of an error.
This is also why it took weeks to enable pymalloc by default, instead of
days (i.e., to make sure that old binaries don't have to be recompiled).

I don't speak for disutils, of course.