I have finally finished the extension module that allows retrieving the uptime of the system and the load averages from Python scripts. The files together with some instructions are located at http://www.speedyshare.com/473240971.html . This extension module is based on w utility.
I'd like to mention that it took me ~24h (+/- 1h) (work time only) to finish this task. Before doing it, I spent some time studying bddebian's dmesgd (~10h). Is such timing okay, or shall I try to work faster?
I suggest that I try to write a translator that will implement some basic support for browsing tar files. It seems to me that knowing some details about writing translators, I will be able to work on namespace-based translator selection in a more efficient way. Is such an idea acceptable?