> Option 1: Make Unicode-agnosticism the default and force anyone who cares about the Unicode setting to include a separate header.  If they don't include that header, they can only call safe functions and can't poke at PyUnicodeObject's internals.  If they include the header, their module will always generate a link failure if the Unicode settings are mismatched.  (Guido proposed this solution in the python-ideas thread)

+1

The packaging and compatibility problems are pressing concerns for many people. Poking at PyUnicodeObject's internals seems like a rare pretty rare need for an extension module to do. If I understand correctly, this option provides the best solution to the packaging and compatibility issues (over the long term, as Python and the authors of extension modules upgrade).