Python 2.8?

You can redefine terms all you want but there are operations I can reasonably do on bytes that the literature calls "string manipulation". I'm talking about things like splitting on 0x0A ('\n') or 0x2F ('/') bytes. Those are reasonable things to do if whatever you're working on defines them as a reasonable thing to do. I don't have to somehow "decode" the byte string before I can manipulate it. In fact, I cannot possibly decode it as I have no idea (nor a desire to know) what any of these bytes are supposed to mean. The only thing I need to know is that I can legitimately split them upon encountering a '/' byte.

Super simple stuff, until you bring Python 3 into the mix with its desire to enforce specific encodings where none were agreed upon.