Just to add to: "" This reads like he believes the standard library is the only library, which (considering he uses C++ and Java) is a truly bizarre belief. If

Just to add to: "" This reads like he believes the standard library is the only library, which (considering he uses C++ and Java) is a truly bizarre belief. If he doesn't like the standard HTTP library, it's trivial to either distribute a modified version, or use somebody else's (eg, libcurl). Many large Python projects distribute variants of standard library modules to work around errors or missing features in legacy versions of Python.""" I regularly monkey-patch builtin standard libraries. Bug in httplib? Easy - I overwrite the built in version, or I do some other trick. It's just Python, get a class that needs a method or an attribute? Just add it. That's the nice part of "nothing is truly private" in python - and a great argument against bondage and chains style of encapsulation/privacy. If you need to reach in and "fix" something, you can.