using binary in python

[Chris Angelico]

On Tue, Nov 10, 2015 at 1:32 AM, Marko Rauhamaa <marko at pacujo.net> wrote:
> Yes, and lists and dicts and ints and objects and all. No problem there.
>
> However, when filenames and sys.stdin deal with text, things are getting
> iffy.

So where do you mark the boundary between the human and the OS? If I
create a GUI, I should be able to put an entry field down that accepts
Unicode text. And if I make a web form and an HTTP server, a user
should be able to type Unicode text into an <input> field and send
that along. Either way, my program should get a Unicode string. Why
shouldn't I be able to do the same with input()? And why, if a user
enters a plausible file name, should that not be able to be opened as
a file?

At what point do you say "this is for humans, this is for machines"?
Isn't it Python's job to spare us that hassle?

ChrisA