PEP 3102 for review and comment

[molasses]

I don't mind the naked star and will be happy if thats what we end up with.

Though how about using *None?
I think that makes the intention of the function clearer.

eg.
def compare(a, b, *None, key=None):

Which to me reads as "no further positional arguments".

Or alternatively:
def compare(a, b, *0, key=None):

-- Mark