I've noticed this kind of thing with lots of Google products actually - they're often written for downright ancient versions of python and can be a nightmare to get working with modern pythons. Any clue as why this is?
> Any clue as why this is?
Lack of clues is always a possible explanation. Some people also want to make sure their software runs on RHEL 5.
What's preventing it from running on more modern versions of Python, like 2.7?