--- gpl/axl/py-axl/py_axl.c	2011/06/08 07:09:12	1.1
+++ gpl/axl/py-axl/py_axl.c	2012/02/17 12:50:03	1.1.1.2
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
  *         info@aspl.es - http://www.aspl.es/axl
  */
 #include <py_axl.h>
+#include <locale.h>
 
 #define LOG_DOMAIN "py-axl"
 
@@ -188,6 +189,21 @@ static PyMethodDef py_axl_methods[] = { 
 PyMODINIT_FUNC  initlibpy_axl (void)
 {
 	PyObject * module;
+
+	/** 
+	 * NOTE: it seems the previous call is not the appropriate way
+	 * but there are relevant people that do not think so:
+	 *
+	 * http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/PythonEncodingUsesSystemLocale
+	 *
+	 * Our appreciation is that python should take care of the
+	 * current system locale to translate unicode content into
+	 * const char strings, for those Py_ParseTuple and Py_BuildArg
+	 * using s and z, rather forcing people to get into these
+	 * hacks which are problematic. 
+	 */
+	PyUnicode_SetDefaultEncoding ("UTF-8");
+	   
 
 	/* call to initilize threading API and to acquire the lock */
 	PyEval_InitThreads();