Index: Lib/distutils/tests/test_dist.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/tests/test_dist.py	(revision 66030)
+++ Lib/distutils/tests/test_dist.py	(working copy)
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """Tests for distutils.dist."""
 
 import distutils.cmd
@@ -95,6 +96,44 @@
         finally:
             os.unlink(TESTFN)
 
+    def test_write_pkg_file(self):
+        # DistributionMetadata now stores some fields 
+        # in Unicode : 
+        #  - author
+        #  - maintainer
+        #  - description
+        #  - long_description
+        my_file = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'f') 
+        klass = distutils.dist.Distribution
+        
+        dist = klass(attrs={'author': u'Mister Café',
+                            'name': 'my.package', 
+                            'maintainer': u'Café Junior',
+                            'description': u'Café torréfié',
+                            'long_description': u'Héhéhé'})
+       
+       
+        # let's make sure the file can be written
+        # with Unicode fields. they are encoded with 
+        # dist.metadata.encoding (defaults to utf8)
+        try:
+            dist.metadata.write_pkg_file(open(my_file, 'w'))
+        finally:
+            if os.path.exists(my_file):
+                os.remove(my_file)
+ 
+        # regular ascii is of course always usable
+        dist = klass(attrs={'author': 'Mister Cafe',
+                            'name': 'my.package', 
+                            'maintainer': 'Cafe Junior',
+                            'description': 'Cafe torrefie',
+                            'long_description': 'Hehehe'})
+       
+        try:
+            dist.metadata.write_pkg_file(open(my_file, 'w'))
+        finally:
+            if os.path.exists(my_file):
+                os.remove(my_file)
 
 class MetadataTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
Index: Lib/distutils/dist.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/distutils/dist.py	(revision 66030)
+++ Lib/distutils/dist.py	(working copy)
@@ -1047,16 +1047,19 @@
                          )
 
     def __init__ (self):
+        # Unicode strings
+        self.author = None
+        self.maintainer = None
+        self.description = None
+        self.long_description = None
+
+        # ASCII strings
         self.name = None
         self.version = None
-        self.author = None
         self.author_email = None
-        self.maintainer = None
         self.maintainer_email = None
         self.url = None
         self.license = None
-        self.description = None
-        self.long_description = None
         self.keywords = None
         self.platforms = None
         self.classifiers = None
@@ -1087,15 +1090,18 @@
         file.write('Metadata-Version: %s\n' % version)
         file.write('Name: %s\n' % self.get_name() )
         file.write('Version: %s\n' % self.get_version() )
-        file.write('Summary: %s\n' % self.get_description() )
+        desc = self._encode_field(self.get_description()) 
+        file.write('Summary: %s\n' % desc) 
         file.write('Home-page: %s\n' % self.get_url() )
-        file.write('Author: %s\n' % self.get_contact() )
+        contact = self._encode_field(self.get_contact()) 
+        file.write('Author: %s\n' % contact ) 
         file.write('Author-email: %s\n' % self.get_contact_email() )
         file.write('License: %s\n' % self.get_license() )
         if self.download_url:
             file.write('Download-URL: %s\n' % self.download_url)
 
-        long_desc = rfc822_escape( self.get_long_description() )
+        long_desc = self._encode_field(self.get_long_description())
+        long_desc = rfc822_escape(long_desc)
         file.write('Description: %s\n' % long_desc)
 
         keywords = string.join( self.get_keywords(), ',')
@@ -1114,6 +1120,11 @@
         for value in values:
             file.write('%s: %s\n' % (name, value))
 
+    def _encode_field(self, value):
+        """Will encode the value"""
+        # forces to utf8
+        return value.encode('utf8')
+
     # -- Metadata query methods ----------------------------------------
 
     def get_name (self):
@@ -1126,13 +1137,13 @@
         return "%s-%s" % (self.get_name(), self.get_version())
 
     def get_author(self):
-        return self.author or "UNKNOWN"
+        return self.author or u"UNKNOWN"
 
     def get_author_email(self):
         return self.author_email or "UNKNOWN"
 
     def get_maintainer(self):
-        return self.maintainer or "UNKNOWN"
+        return self.maintainer or u"UNKNOWN"
 
     def get_maintainer_email(self):
         return self.maintainer_email or "UNKNOWN"
@@ -1140,7 +1151,7 @@
     def get_contact(self):
         return (self.maintainer or
                 self.author or
-                "UNKNOWN")
+                u"UNKNOWN")
 
     def get_contact_email(self):
         return (self.maintainer_email or
@@ -1155,10 +1166,10 @@
     get_licence = get_license
 
     def get_description(self):
-        return self.description or "UNKNOWN"
+        return self.description or u"UNKNOWN"
 
     def get_long_description(self):
-        return self.long_description or "UNKNOWN"
+        return self.long_description or u"UNKNOWN"
 
     def get_keywords(self):
         return self.keywords or []
Index: Lib/test/test_distutils.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/test/test_distutils.py	(revision 66030)
+++ Lib/test/test_distutils.py	(working copy)
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 the test_suite() function there returns a test suite that's ready to
 be run.
 """
-
 import distutils.tests
 import test.test_support