diff -ru Python-2.4.2.orig/Include/abstract.h Python-2.4.2/Include/abstract.h
--- Python-2.4.2.orig/Include/abstract.h	2004-03-12 16:38:17.000000000 +0000
+++ Python-2.4.2/Include/abstract.h	2005-10-25 20:53:50.000000000 +0100
@@ -455,6 +455,15 @@
 	 This is the equivalent of the Python statement: del o[key].
        */
 
+     PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(PyObject *obj);
+
+      /*  
+	  Checks whether an arbitrary object supports the (character,
+	  single segment) buffer interface.  Returns 1 on success, 0
+	  on failure.
+
+      */
+
      PyAPI_FUNC(int) PyObject_AsCharBuffer(PyObject *obj,
 					  const char **buffer,
 					  int *buffer_len);
diff -ru Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/abstract.c Python-2.4.2/Objects/abstract.c
--- Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/abstract.c	2005-08-21 12:09:58.000000000 +0100
+++ Python-2.4.2/Objects/abstract.c	2005-10-25 20:53:50.000000000 +0100
@@ -191,6 +191,19 @@
 	return ret;
 }
 
+int
+PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(PyObject *obj)
+{
+	PyBufferProcs *pb = obj->ob_type->tp_as_buffer;
+
+	if (pb == NULL ||
+	    pb->bf_getcharbuffer == NULL ||
+	    pb->bf_getsegcount == NULL ||
+	    (*pb->bf_getsegcount)(obj, NULL) != 1)
+		return 0;
+	return 1;
+}
+
 int PyObject_AsCharBuffer(PyObject *obj,
 			  const char **buffer,
 			  int *buffer_len)
diff -ru Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/stringobject.c Python-2.4.2/Objects/stringobject.c
--- Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/stringobject.c	2004-10-26 02:52:37.000000000 +0100
+++ Python-2.4.2/Objects/stringobject.c	2005-10-25 22:18:49.000000000 +0100
@@ -1004,19 +1004,20 @@
 	const char *lhs, *rhs, *end;
 	int size;
 
-	if (!PyString_CheckExact(el)) {
+	if (PyString_Check(el)) {
+		size = PyString_GET_SIZE(el);
+		rhs = PyString_AS_STRING(el);
+	}
 #ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-		if (PyUnicode_Check(el))
-			return PyUnicode_Contains(a, el);
+	else if (PyUnicode_Check(el))
+		return PyUnicode_Contains(a, el);
 #endif
-		if (!PyString_Check(el)) {
-			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
-			    "'in <string>' requires string as left operand");
-			return -1;
-		}
+	else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(el, &rhs, &size))
+	{
+		PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+		    "'in <string>' requires string as left operand");
+		return -1;
 	}
-	size = PyString_GET_SIZE(el);
-	rhs = PyString_AS_STRING(el);
 	lhs = PyString_AS_STRING(a);
 
 	/* optimize for a single character */
@@ -1597,6 +1598,7 @@
 	const int seplen = PyString_GET_SIZE(self);
 	PyObject *res = NULL;
 	char *p;
+	const char *itemstr;
 	int seqlen = 0;
 	size_t sz = 0;
 	int i;
@@ -1633,21 +1635,28 @@
 	 */
 	for (i = 0; i < seqlen; i++) {
 		const size_t old_sz = sz;
+		int n;
 		item = PySequence_Fast_GET_ITEM(seq, i);
-		if (!PyString_Check(item)){
+		if (PyString_Check(item)){
+			sz += PyString_GET_SIZE(item);
+		}
 #ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-			if (PyUnicode_Check(item)) {
-				/* Defer to Unicode join.
-				 * CAUTION:  There's no gurantee that the
-				 * original sequence can be iterated over
-				 * again, so we must pass seq here.
-				 */
-				PyObject *result;
-				result = PyUnicode_Join((PyObject *)self, seq);
-				Py_DECREF(seq);
-				return result;
-			}
+		else if (PyUnicode_Check(item)) {
+			/* Defer to Unicode join.
+			 * CAUTION:  There's no guarantee that the
+			 * original sequence can be iterated over
+			 * again, so we must pass seq here.
+			 */
+			PyObject *result;
+			result = PyUnicode_Join((PyObject *)self, seq);
+			Py_DECREF(seq);
+			return result;
+		}
 #endif
+		else if (!PyObject_AsCharBuffer(item, &itemstr, &n)) {
+			sz += n;
+		}
+		else {
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 				     "sequence item %i: expected string,"
 				     " %.80s found",
@@ -1655,7 +1664,6 @@
 			Py_DECREF(seq);
 			return NULL;
 		}
-		sz += PyString_GET_SIZE(item);
 		if (i != 0)
 			sz += seplen;
 		if (sz < old_sz || sz > INT_MAX) {
@@ -1676,10 +1684,16 @@
 	/* Catenate everything. */
 	p = PyString_AS_STRING(res);
 	for (i = 0; i < seqlen; ++i) {
-		size_t n;
+		int n;
 		item = PySequence_Fast_GET_ITEM(seq, i);
-		n = PyString_GET_SIZE(item);
-		memcpy(p, PyString_AS_STRING(item), n);
+		if (PyString_Check(item)){
+			itemstr = PyString_AS_STRING(item);
+			n = PyString_GET_SIZE(item);
+		}
+		else
+			PyObject_AsCharBuffer(item, &itemstr, &n);
+
+		memcpy(p, itemstr, n);
 		p += n;
 		if (i < seqlen - 1) {
 			memcpy(p, sep, seplen);
@@ -1839,12 +1853,10 @@
 
 
 static PyObject *
-do_xstrip(PyStringObject *self, int striptype, PyObject *sepobj)
+do_xstrip(PyStringObject *self, int striptype, const char *sep, int seplen)
 {
 	char *s = PyString_AS_STRING(self);
 	int len = PyString_GET_SIZE(self);
-	char *sep = PyString_AS_STRING(sepobj);
-	int seplen = PyString_GET_SIZE(sepobj);
 	int i, j;
 
 	i = 0;
@@ -1904,27 +1916,32 @@
 static PyObject *
 do_argstrip(PyStringObject *self, int striptype, PyObject *args)
 {
-	PyObject *sep = NULL;
+	PyObject *sepobj = NULL;
 
-	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, (char *)stripformat[striptype], &sep))
+	if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, (char *)stripformat[striptype], &sepobj))
 		return NULL;
 
-	if (sep != NULL && sep != Py_None) {
-		if (PyString_Check(sep))
-			return do_xstrip(self, striptype, sep);
+	if (sepobj != NULL && sepobj != Py_None) {
+		const char *sep;
+		int seplen;
+
+		if (PyString_Check(sepobj)) {
+			sep = PyString_AS_STRING(sepobj);
+		       	seplen = PyString_GET_SIZE(sepobj);
+		}
 #ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
-		else if (PyUnicode_Check(sep)) {
+		else if (PyUnicode_Check(sepobj)) {
 			PyObject *uniself = PyUnicode_FromObject((PyObject *)self);
 			PyObject *res;
 			if (uniself==NULL)
 				return NULL;
 			res = _PyUnicode_XStrip((PyUnicodeObject *)uniself,
-				striptype, sep);
+				striptype, sepobj);
 			Py_DECREF(uniself);
 			return res;
 		}
 #endif
-		else {
+		else if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(sepobj, &sep, &seplen)) {
 			PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 #ifdef Py_USING_UNICODE
 				     "%s arg must be None, str or unicode",
@@ -1934,7 +1951,7 @@
 				     STRIPNAME(striptype));
 			return NULL;
 		}
-		return do_xstrip(self, striptype, sep);
+		return do_xstrip(self, striptype, sep, seplen);
 	}
 
 	return do_strip(self, striptype);
@@ -2820,6 +2837,42 @@
     return u;
 }
 
+static int
+parse_just_args(PyObject *args, char *fmt, int *width, char *fillchar)
+{
+    PyObject *fillobj = NULL;
+
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, fmt, width, &fillobj))
+        return 0;
+
+    if (fillobj) {
+	int n, rc;
+	const char *s;
+
+	if (PyString_Check(fillobj)) {
+	    s = PyString_AS_STRING(fillobj);
+	    n = PyString_GET_SIZE(fillobj);
+	    rc = 0;
+	}
+	else {
+	    /* Unicode will be picked up here. */
+	    rc = PyObject_AsCharBuffer(fillobj, &s, &n);
+	}
+
+	if (rc || n != 1) {
+	    PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError, "fillchar arg must be a str of length 1");
+	    return 0;
+	}
+
+	*fillchar = *s;
+    }
+    else {
+	*fillchar = ' ';
+    }
+
+    return 1;
+}
+
 PyDoc_STRVAR(ljust__doc__,
 "S.ljust(width[, fillchar]) -> string\n"
 "\n"
@@ -2830,9 +2883,9 @@
 string_ljust(PyStringObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
     int width;
-    char fillchar = ' ';
+    char fillchar;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "i|c:ljust", &width, &fillchar))
+    if (!parse_just_args(args, "i|O:ljust", &width, &fillchar))
         return NULL;
 
     if (PyString_GET_SIZE(self) >= width && PyString_CheckExact(self)) {
@@ -2854,9 +2907,9 @@
 string_rjust(PyStringObject *self, PyObject *args)
 {
     int width;
-    char fillchar = ' ';
+    char fillchar;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "i|c:rjust", &width, &fillchar))
+    if (!parse_just_args(args, "i|O:rjust", &width, &fillchar))
         return NULL;
 
     if (PyString_GET_SIZE(self) >= width && PyString_CheckExact(self)) {
@@ -2879,9 +2932,9 @@
 {
     int marg, left;
     int width;
-    char fillchar = ' ';
+    char fillchar;
 
-    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "i|c:center", &width, &fillchar))
+    if (!parse_just_args(args, "i|O:center", &width, &fillchar))
         return NULL;
 
     if (PyString_GET_SIZE(self) >= width && PyString_CheckExact(self)) {
@@ -3832,6 +3885,18 @@
 		if (!PyArg_Parse(v, "c;%c requires int or char", &buf[0]))
 			return -1;
 	}
+	else if (PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(v)) {
+		const char *s;
+		int n;
+
+		if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(v, &s, &n) || n != 1) {
+			PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError,
+			    "%c requires int or char");
+			return -1;
+		}
+
+		buf[0] = s[0];
+	}
 	else {
 		if (!PyArg_Parse(v, "b;%c requires int or char", &buf[0]))
 			return -1;
diff -ru Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/unicodeobject.c Python-2.4.2/Objects/unicodeobject.c
--- Python-2.4.2.orig/Objects/unicodeobject.c	2005-08-30 11:46:06.000000000 +0100
+++ Python-2.4.2/Objects/unicodeobject.c	2005-10-25 20:53:50.000000000 +0100
@@ -4169,7 +4169,7 @@
 
 	item = PySequence_Fast_GET_ITEM(fseq, i);
 	/* Convert item to Unicode. */
-	if (! PyUnicode_Check(item) && ! PyString_Check(item)) {
+	if (! PyUnicode_Check(item) && ! PyString_Check(item) && ! PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(item)) {
 	    PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
 			 "sequence item %i: expected string or Unicode,"
 			 " %.80s found",
@@ -5738,7 +5738,7 @@
 	if (sep != NULL && sep != Py_None) {
 		if (PyUnicode_Check(sep))
 			return _PyUnicode_XStrip(self, striptype, sep);
-		else if (PyString_Check(sep)) {
+		else if (PyString_Check(sep) || PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(sep)) {
 			PyObject *res;
 			sep = PyUnicode_FromObject(sep);
 			if (sep==NULL)
@@ -6721,6 +6721,15 @@
 	buf[0] = (Py_UNICODE)PyString_AS_STRING(v)[0];
     }
 
+    else if (PyObject_CheckCharBuffer(v)) {
+	const char *s;
+	int n;
+
+	if (PyObject_AsCharBuffer(v, &s, &n) || n != 1)
+	    goto onError;
+	buf[0] = (Py_UNICODE)s[0];
+    }
+
     else {
 	/* Integer input truncated to a character */
         long x;