I don't understand why this has been marked resolved.  
I have finally worked out how to do what has been suggested, 
but it is pretty painful and obscure, and involves monkey 
patching.  Something like:

    import distutils.util
    import setuptools
    from lib2to3.refactor import get_fixers_from_package
    fixer_names = []
    for p in setuptools.lib2to3_fixer_packages:
        fixer_names.extend(get_fixers_from_package(p))

    # Modify
    fixer_names.remove('lib2to3.fixes.fix_next')

    # Monkey patch:
    distutils.util.Mixin2to3.fixer_names = fixer_names

Is that really what is being suggested as the way to do this?

Oh, I didn't see that Mixin in p3k distutils. I assumed it was coming from distribute.

Yes it's perfectly possible to customise the list that way, if a bit painful and ugly.

Depending on what deployment library you use specifically, you can set distutils.util.Mixin2to3.fixer_names. It defaults to

get_fixers_from_package('lib2to3.fixes')

If you want to customize it, add and remove to this list as you please. Anything based on Mixin2to3 (and not otherwise overriding fixer_names) will then use your list of fixers.

> I usually put the fixers to skip right into setup.py.

Yes, that's what I'd like to be able to do. Am I missing an obvious existing way to do it?

Not sure why you need that on the command line. I usually put the fixers to skip right into setup.py.

It would be handy if specific 2to3 fixers could be disabled during 2to3. Here's a patch to do it. The equivalent patch for distutils2 would be much bigger, so I'm proposing it here for discussion, first.