Amazed this one managed to scrape through for so long. Calling
__import__ from within find_module() was causing the target module, in
this case cookielib, to be loaded *then overwritten* by a subsequent
duplicate load higher in the stack.
The result is that cookielib was loaded twice, and, per usual Python
import semantics, a reference to the partially initialized first
cookielib was installed in sys.modules while its code executed.
At the end of cookielib on 2.x, it imports _LWPCookieJar, which in turn
imports the partially built cookielib from sys.modules, then subclasses
the CookieJar from /that/ module.
Everything is wonderful. Then the call returns back up into the import
mechanism which restarts the entire process -- only this time,
_LWPCookieJar is /not/ reinitialized, so the copy in sys.modules is
still left with types pointing at the old module!
So the duplicate import creates a new CookieJar which is not the base
class of LWPCookieJar. Tada! 3 hours debugging.
This is probably a performance fix in disguise, didn't realize things
were so broken. It may also be a regression elsewhere. Urgently need to
finish the tests.
David Wilson