diff --git a/osc/babysitter.py b/osc/babysitter.py
index 4b2583ae..6ca92531 100644
--- a/osc/babysitter.py
+++ b/osc/babysitter.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ from osc import oscerr
 from .oscsslexcp import NoSecureSSLError
 from osc.util.cpio import CpioError
 from osc.util.packagequery import PackageError
+from osc.util.helper import decode_it
 
 try:
     from M2Crypto.SSL.Checker import SSLVerificationError
@@ -112,11 +113,11 @@ def run(prg, argv=None):
             print(body, file=sys.stderr)
 
         if e.code in [400, 403, 404, 500]:
-            if '<summary>' in body:
-                msg = body.split('<summary>')[1]
-                msg = msg.split('</summary>')[0]
-                msg = msg.replace('&lt;', '<').replace('&gt;' , '>').replace('&amp;', '&')
-                print(msg, file=sys.stderr)
+            if b'<summary>' in body:
+                msg = body.split(b'<summary>')[1]
+                msg = msg.split(b'</summary>')[0]
+                msg = msg.replace(b'&lt;', b'<').replace(b'&gt;' , b'>').replace(b'&amp;', b'&')
+                print(decode_it(msg), file=sys.stderr)
         if e.code >= 500 and e.code <= 599:
             print('\nRequest: %s' % e.filename)
             print('Headers:')
diff --git a/osc/build.py b/osc/build.py
index 46fb2f86..457249e2 100644
--- a/osc/build.py
+++ b/osc/build.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ from osc.fetch import *
 from osc.core import get_buildinfo, store_read_apiurl, store_read_project, store_read_package, meta_exists, quote_plus, get_buildconfig, is_package_dir, dgst
 from osc.core import get_binarylist, get_binary_file, run_external, return_external, raw_input
 from osc.util import rpmquery, debquery, archquery
+from osc.util.helper import decode_it
 import osc.conf
 from . import oscerr
 import subprocess
@@ -440,11 +441,11 @@ def get_prefer_pkgs(dirs, wanted_arch, type, cpio):
         packageQuery = packagequery.PackageQuery.query(path)
         packageQueries.add(packageQuery)
 
-    prefer_pkgs = dict((name, packageQuery.path())
+    prefer_pkgs = dict((decode_it(name), packageQuery.path())
                        for name, packageQuery in packageQueries.items())
 
     depfile = create_deps(packageQueries.values())
-    cpio.add('deps', '\n'.join(depfile))
+    cpio.add(b'deps', b'\n'.join(depfile))
     return prefer_pkgs
 
 
@@ -455,22 +456,22 @@ def create_deps(pkgqs):
     """
     depfile = []
     for p in pkgqs:
-        id = '%s.%s-0/0/0: ' % (p.name(), p.arch())
-        depfile.append('P:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(p.provides())))
-        depfile.append('R:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(p.requires())))
+        id = b'%s.%s-0/0/0: ' % (p.name(), p.arch())
+        depfile.append(b'P:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(p.provides())))
+        depfile.append(b'R:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(p.requires())))
         d = p.conflicts()
         if d:
-            depfile.append('C:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(d)))
+            depfile.append(b'C:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(d)))
         d = p.obsoletes()
         if d:
-            depfile.append('O:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(d)))
+            depfile.append(b'O:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(d)))
         d = p.recommends()
         if d:
-            depfile.append('r:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(d)))
+            depfile.append(b'r:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(d)))
         d = p.supplements()
         if d:
-            depfile.append('s:%s%s' % (id, ' '.join(d)))
-        depfile.append('I:%s%s-%s 0-%s' % (id, p.name(), p.evr(), p.arch()))
+            depfile.append(b's:%s%s' % (id, b' '.join(d)))
+        depfile.append(b'I:%s%s-%s 0-%s' % (id, p.name(), p.evr().encode(), p.arch()))
     return depfile
 
 
@@ -513,7 +514,7 @@ def get_kiwipath_from_buildinfo(apiurl, bi_filename, prj, repo):
     kiwipath = bi.pathes
     kiwipath.insert(0, myprp)
     return kiwipath
-                
+
 def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
 
     repo = argv[0]
@@ -677,24 +678,24 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
         extra_pkgs += xp
 
     prefer_pkgs = {}
-    build_descr_data = open(build_descr).read()
+    build_descr_data = open(build_descr, 'rb').read()
 
     # XXX: dirty hack but there's no api to provide custom defines
     if opts.without:
         s = ''
         for i in opts.without:
             s += "%%define _without_%s 1\n" % i
-        build_descr_data = s + build_descr_data
+        build_descr_data = s.encode() + build_descr_data
     if opts._with:
         s = ''
         for i in opts._with:
             s += "%%define _with_%s 1\n" % i
-        build_descr_data = s + build_descr_data
+        build_descr_data = s.encode() + build_descr_data
     if opts.define:
         s = ''
         for i in opts.define:
             s += "%%define %s\n" % i
-        build_descr_data = s + build_descr_data
+        build_descr_data = s.encode + build_descr_data
 
     cpiodata = None
     servicefile = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(build_descr), "_service")
@@ -724,12 +725,12 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
         prefer_pkgs = get_prefer_pkgs(opts.prefer_pkgs, arch, build_type, cpiodata)
 
     if cpiodata:
-        cpiodata.add(os.path.basename(build_descr), build_descr_data)
+        cpiodata.add(os.path.basename(build_descr.encode()), build_descr_data)
         # buildenv must come last for compatibility reasons...
         if buildenvfile:
-            cpiodata.add("buildenv", open(buildenvfile).read())
+            cpiodata.add(b"buildenv", open(buildenvfile, 'rb').read())
         if servicefile:
-            cpiodata.add("_service", open(servicefile).read())
+            cpiodata.add(b"_service", open(servicefile, 'rb').read())
         build_descr_data = cpiodata.get()
 
     # special handling for overlay and rsync-src/dest
@@ -783,13 +784,14 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
                 raise oscerr.WrongOptions('--offline is not possible, no local buildconfig file')
         else:
             print('Getting buildinfo from server and store to %s' % bi_filename)
-            bi_text = ''.join(get_buildinfo(apiurl,
-                                            prj,
-                                            pac,
-                                            repo,
-                                            arch,
-                                            specfile=build_descr_data,
-                                            addlist=extra_pkgs))
+
+            bi_text = decode_it(get_buildinfo(apiurl,
+                                    prj,
+                                    pac,
+                                    repo,
+                                    arch,
+                                    specfile=build_descr_data,
+                                    addlist=extra_pkgs))
             if not bi_file:
                 bi_file = open(bi_filename, 'w')
             # maybe we should check for errors before saving the file
@@ -802,7 +804,7 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
             bc = get_buildconfig(apiurl, prj, repo, kiwipath)
             if not bc_file:
                 bc_file = open(bc_filename, 'w')
-            bc_file.write(bc)
+            bc_file.write(decode_it(bc))
             bc_file.flush()
     except HTTPError as e:
         if e.code == 404:
@@ -833,7 +835,7 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
     # Set default binary type if cannot be detected
     binary_type = 'rpm'
     if os.path.exists('/usr/lib/build/queryconfig'):
-        binary_type = return_external('/usr/lib/build/queryconfig', '--dist', bc_filename, 'binarytype').decode('utf-8').strip()
+        binary_type = decode_it(return_external('/usr/lib/build/queryconfig', '--dist', bc_filename, 'binarytype')).strip()
     # If binary type is set to a useless value, reset to 'rpm'
     if binary_type == 'UNDEFINED':
         binary_type = 'rpm'
@@ -1161,7 +1163,7 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
         if bi.installonly_list:
             rpmlist.append('installonly: ' + ' '.join(bi.installonly_list) + '\n')
 
-    rpmlist_file = NamedTemporaryFile(prefix='rpmlist.')
+    rpmlist_file = NamedTemporaryFile(mode='w+t', prefix='rpmlist.')
     rpmlist_filename = rpmlist_file.name
     rpmlist_file.writelines(rpmlist)
     rpmlist_file.flush()
@@ -1261,13 +1263,13 @@ def main(apiurl, opts, argv):
         (s_built, b_built) = get_built_files(pacdir, bi.buildtype)
 
         print()
-        if s_built: print(s_built)
+        if s_built: print(decode_it(s_built))
         print()
-        print(b_built)
+        print(decode_it(b_built))
 
         if opts.keep_pkgs:
             for i in b_built.splitlines() + s_built.splitlines():
-                shutil.copy2(i, os.path.join(opts.keep_pkgs, os.path.basename(i)))
+                shutil.copy2(i, os.path.join(opts.keep_pkgs, os.path.basename(decode_it(i))))
 
     if bi_file:
         bi_file.close()
diff --git a/osc/cmdln.py b/osc/cmdln.py
index 3d303b09..918a1da1 100644
--- a/osc/cmdln.py
+++ b/osc/cmdln.py
@@ -621,16 +621,16 @@ class RawCmdln(cmd.Cmd):
             ${name} man
         """
         mandate = datetime.utcfromtimestamp(int(os.environ.get('SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH', time.time())))
-        self.stdout.write(bytes(
+        self.stdout.write(
             self.man_header % {
                 'date': mandate.strftime('%b %Y'),
                 'version': self.get_version(),
                 'name': self.name,
                 'ucname': self.name.upper()
-                },
-            "utf-8"))
+                }
+            )
 
-        self.stdout.write(bytes(self.man_commands_header, "utf-8"))
+        self.stdout.write(self.man_commands_header)
         commands = self._help_get_command_list()
         for command, doc in commands:
             cmdname = command.split(' ')[0]
@@ -641,14 +641,14 @@ class RawCmdln(cmd.Cmd):
                     line = line[8:]
                 lines.append(man_escape(line))
 
-            self.stdout.write(bytes(
-                '.TP\n\\fB%s\\fR\n%s\n' % (command, '\n'.join(lines)), "utf-8"))
+            self.stdout.write(
+                '.TP\n\\fB%s\\fR\n%s\n' % (command, '\n'.join(lines)))
 
-        self.stdout.write(bytes(self.man_options_header, "utf-8"))
-        self.stdout.write(bytes(
-            man_escape(self._help_preprocess('${option_list}', None)), "utf-8"))
+        self.stdout.write(self.man_options_header)
+        self.stdout.write(
+            man_escape(self._help_preprocess('${option_list}', None)))
 
-        self.stdout.write(bytes(self.man_footer, "utf-8"))
+        self.stdout.write(self.man_footer)
 
         self.stdout.flush()
 
diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index 29579ac7..89d23dac 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ from optparse import SUPPRESS_HELP
 from .core import *
 from .util import safewriter
 
+try:
+    from functools import cmp_to_key
+except ImportError:
+    from .util.helper import cmp_to_key
+
 MAN_HEADER = r""".TH %(ucname)s "1" "%(date)s" "%(name)s %(version)s" "User Commands"
 .SH NAME
 %(name)s \- openSUSE build service command-line tool.
@@ -435,7 +440,8 @@ class Osc(cmdln.Cmdln):
                         break
                     m = show_files_meta(apiurl, project, package)
                     li = Linkinfo()
-                    li.read(ET.fromstring(''.join(m)).find('linkinfo'))
+                    root = ET.fromstring(m)
+                    li.read(root.find('linkinfo'))
                     if li.haserror():
                         raise oscerr.LinkExpandError(project, package, li.error)
                     project, package, rev = li.project, li.package, li.rev
@@ -753,7 +759,7 @@ class Osc(cmdln.Cmdln):
                 buf = f.read(16384)
                 if not buf:
                     break
-                sys.stdout.write(buf)
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(buf))
 
         elif opts.delete:
             print("Delete token")
@@ -773,7 +779,7 @@ class Osc(cmdln.Cmdln):
                 raise oscerr.WrongArgs("Did you mean --" + args[0] + "?")
             # just list token
             for data in streamfile(url, http_GET):
-                sys.stdout.write(data)
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(data))
 
 
     @cmdln.option('-a', '--attribute', metavar='ATTRIBUTE',
@@ -938,22 +944,22 @@ class Osc(cmdln.Cmdln):
         # show
         if not opts.edit and not opts.file and not opts.delete and not opts.create and not opts.set:
             if cmd == 'prj':
-                sys.stdout.write(''.join(show_project_meta(apiurl, project, rev=opts.revision, blame=opts.blame)))
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(b''.join(show_project_meta(apiurl, project, rev=opts.revision, blame=opts.blame))))
             elif cmd == 'pkg':
-                sys.stdout.write(''.join(show_package_meta(apiurl, project, package, blame=opts.blame)))
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(b''.join(show_package_meta(apiurl, project, package, blame=opts.blame))))
             elif cmd == 'attribute':
-                sys.stdout.write(''.join(show_attribute_meta(apiurl, project, package, subpackage,
-                                         opts.attribute, opts.attribute_defaults, opts.attribute_project)))
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(b''.join(show_attribute_meta(apiurl, project, package, subpackage,
+                                         opts.attribute, opts.attribute_defaults, opts.attribute_project))))
             elif cmd == 'prjconf':
-                sys.stdout.write(''.join(show_project_conf(apiurl, project, rev=opts.revision, blame=opts.blame)))
+                sys.stdout.write(decode_it(b''.join(show_project_conf(apiurl, project, rev=opts.revision, blame=opts.blame))))
             elif cmd == 'user':
                 r = get_user_meta(apiurl, user)
                 if r:
-                    sys.stdout.write(''.join(r))
+                    sys.stdout.write(decode_it(r))
             elif cmd == 'group':
                 r = get_group_meta(apiurl, group)
                 if r:
-                    sys.stdout.write(''.join(r))
+                    sys.stdout.write(decode_it(r))
             elif cmd == 'pattern':
                 if pattern:
                     r = show_pattern_meta(apiurl, project, pattern)
@@ -1390,9 +1396,9 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         if opts.diff or not opts.message:
             try:
                 rdiff = 'old: %s/%s\nnew: %s/%s rev %s\n' % (dst_project, dst_package, src_project, src_package, rev)
-                rdiff += server_diff(apiurl,
+                rdiff += decode_it(server_diff(apiurl,
                                     dst_project, dst_package, None,
-                                    src_project, src_package, rev, True)
+                                    src_project, src_package, rev, True))
             except:
                 rdiff = ''
 
@@ -2483,7 +2489,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                             action.tgt_project, action.tgt_package)
                         diff += submit_action_diff(apiurl, action)
                         diff += '\n\n'
-                run_pager(diff, tmp_suffix='')
+                run_pager(decode_it(diff), tmp_suffix='')
 
         # checkout
         elif cmd == 'checkout' or cmd == 'co':
@@ -2983,7 +2989,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                      revision=rev,
                      comment=comment,
                      keep_link=opts.keep_link)
-        print(r)
+        print(decode_it(r))
 
 
     @cmdln.option('-r', '--repo', metavar='REPO',
@@ -3495,7 +3501,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         devloc = None
         if not exists and (srcprj != args[0] or srcpkg != args[1]):
             try:
-                root = ET.fromstring(''.join(show_attribute_meta(apiurl, args[0], None, None,
+                root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(show_attribute_meta(apiurl, args[0], None, None,
                     conf.config['maintained_update_project_attribute'], False, False)))
                 # this might raise an AttributeError
                 uproject = root.find('attribute').find('value').text
@@ -3649,7 +3655,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             kind = 'pkg'
             path_args = (project, package)
         meta = meta_exists(kind, path_args, create_new=False, apiurl=apiurl)
-        root = ET.fromstring(''.join(meta))
+        root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(meta))
         if root.find('lock') is not None:
             print('Already locked', file=sys.stderr)
             sys.exit(1)
@@ -3854,9 +3860,9 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                 for i in pac.get_diff(rev1):
                     diff += ''.join(i)
             else:
-                diff += server_diff_noex(pac.apiurl, pac.prjname, pac.name, rev1,
+                diff += decode_it(server_diff_noex(pac.apiurl, pac.prjname, pac.name, rev1,
                                     pac.prjname, pac.name, rev2,
-                                    not opts.plain, opts.missingok, opts.meta, not opts.unexpand)
+                                    not opts.plain, opts.missingok, opts.meta, not opts.unexpand))
         run_pager(diff)
 
 
@@ -4135,12 +4141,12 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                                  stdin=subprocess.PIPE,
                                  stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
                                  close_fds=True)
-            p.stdin.write(rdiff.encode())
+            p.stdin.write(rdiff)
             p.stdin.close()
-            print("".join(x.decode() for x in p.stdout.readlines()))
+            print("".join(decode_it(x) for x in p.stdout.readlines()))
         elif opts.unified:
             print()
-            print(rdiff)
+            print(decode_it(rdiff))
             #run_pager(rdiff)
 
     def _prdiff_output_matching_requests(self, opts, requests,
@@ -4285,7 +4291,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         else:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('Wrong number of arguments')
 
-        root = ET.fromstring(''.join(show_configuration(apiurl)))
+        root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(show_configuration(apiurl)))
         elm = root.find('download_url')
         if elm is None or not elm.text:
             raise oscerr.APIError('download_url configuration element expected')
@@ -4530,7 +4536,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                 # don't exclude packages with state ' ' because the packages
                 # might have modified etc. files
                 prj_excl = [st for st in excl_states if st != ' ']
-                for st, pac in sorted(prj.get_status(*prj_excl), lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1])):
+                for st, pac in sorted(prj.get_status(*prj_excl), key=cmp_to_key(compare)):
                     p = prj.get_pacobj(pac)
                     if p is None:
                         # state is != ' '
@@ -4541,11 +4547,11 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                     elif st == ' ' and opts.verbose or st != ' ':
                         lines.append(statfrmt(st, os.path.normpath(os.path.join(prj.dir, pac))))
                     states = p.get_status(opts.show_excluded, *excl_states)
-                    for st, filename in sorted(states, lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1])):
+                    for st, filename in sorted(states, key=cmp_to_key(compare)):
                         lines.append(statfrmt(st, os.path.normpath(os.path.join(p.dir, filename))))
             else:
                 p = findpacs([arg])[0]
-                for st, filename in sorted(p.get_status(opts.show_excluded, *excl_states), lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1])):
+                for st, filename in sorted(p.get_status(opts.show_excluded, *excl_states), key=cmp_to_key(compare)):
                     lines.append(statfrmt(st, os.path.normpath(os.path.join(p.dir, filename))))
         if lines:
             print('\n'.join(lines))
@@ -5227,7 +5233,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             del kwargs['showexcl']
             for xml in get_package_results(**kwargs):
                 if opts.xml:
-                    print(xml, end='')
+                    print(decode_it(xml), end='')
                 else:
                     # csv formatting
                     results = [r for r, _ in result_xml_to_dicts(xml)]
@@ -5290,7 +5296,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                 kwargs['arch'] = opts.arch
             kwargs['wait'] = opts.watch
             for results in get_package_results(apiurl, project, **kwargs):
-                print(results)
+                print(decode_it(results))
             return
 
         if opts.watch:
@@ -5345,7 +5351,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         else:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('please provide project package repository arch.')
 
-        print(get_rpmlint_log(apiurl, project, package, repository, arch))
+        print(decode_it(get_rpmlint_log(apiurl, project, package, repository, arch)))
 
     @cmdln.alias('bl')
     @cmdln.alias('blt')
@@ -5791,7 +5797,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
 
         build_descr_data = None
         if not build_descr is None:
-            build_descr_data = open(build_descr, 'r').read()
+            build_descr_data = open(build_descr, 'rb').read()
         if opts.prefer_pkgs and build_descr_data is None:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('error: a build description is needed if \'--prefer-pkgs\' is used')
         elif opts.prefer_pkgs:
@@ -5802,13 +5808,13 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             prefer_pkgs = get_prefer_pkgs(opts.prefer_pkgs, arch,
                                           os.path.splitext(build_descr)[1],
                                           cpiodata)
-            cpiodata.add(os.path.basename(build_descr), build_descr_data)
+            cpiodata.add(os.path.basename(build_descr.encode()), build_descr_data)
             build_descr_data = cpiodata.get()
 
         if opts.multibuild_package:
             package = package + ":" + opts.multibuild_package
 
-        print(''.join(get_buildinfo(apiurl,
+        print(decode_it(get_buildinfo(apiurl,
                                     project, package, repository, arch,
                                     specfile=build_descr_data,
                                     debug=opts.debug,
@@ -5855,7 +5861,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         else:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('Wrong number of arguments.')
 
-        print(''.join(get_buildconfig(apiurl, project, repository)))
+        print(decode_it(get_buildconfig(apiurl, project, repository)))
 
 
     def do_workerinfo(self, subcmd, opts, worker):
@@ -6097,6 +6103,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                 recipe = recipe.strip()
                 if recipe == 'arch':
                     recipe = 'PKGBUILD'
+                recipe = decode_it(recipe)
                 pac = os.path.basename(os.getcwd())
                 if is_package_dir(os.getcwd()):
                     pac = store_read_package(os.getcwd())
@@ -7280,7 +7287,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                                     package = pac,
                                     target_filename = fname,
                                     target_mtime = i.mtime,
-                                    progress_meter = not opts.quiet)
+                                    progress_meter = opts.quiet)
 
 
     @cmdln.option('-b', '--bugowner', action='store_true',
@@ -7366,7 +7373,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             what = {'project': ''}
         elif type in args_sr:
             requests = get_request_collection(apiurl, 'creator', req_who=user)
-            for r in sorted(requests):
+            for r in sorted(requests, key=lambda x: x.reqid):
                 print(r.list_view(), '\n')
             return
         elif not type in args_pkg:
@@ -7495,7 +7502,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         if list_requests:
             # old style, only for OBS 2.1 and before. Should not be used, since it is slow and incomplete
             requests = get_user_projpkgs_request_list(apiurl, user, projpkgs=request_todo)
-            for r in sorted(requests):
+            for r in sorted(requests, key=lambda x: x.reqid):
                 print(r.list_view(), '\n')
             if not len(requests):
                 print(" -> try also 'osc my sr' to see more.")
@@ -7734,8 +7741,9 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                 continue
             # construct a sorted, flat list
             # Sort by first column, follwed by second column if we have two columns, else sort by first.
-            results.sort(lambda x, y: ( cmp(x[0], y[0]) or
-                                       (len(x)>1 and len(y)>1 and cmp(x[1], y[1])) ))
+            # results.sort(lambda x, y: ( cmp(x[0], y[0]) or
+            #                           (len(x)>1 and len(y)>1 and cmp(x[1], y[1])) ))
+            results.sort(key=cmp_to_key(compare))
             new = []
             for i in results:
                 new.extend(i)
@@ -7955,7 +7963,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                          data=opts.data,
                          file=opts.file,
                          headers=opts.headers)
-        out = r.read()
+        out = decode_it(r.read())
 
         if opts.edit:
             text = edit_text(out)
@@ -7963,7 +7971,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                          url,
                          data=text,
                          headers=opts.headers)
-            out = r.read()
+            out = decode_it(r.read())
 
         sys.stdout.write(out)
 
@@ -8177,7 +8185,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         else:
             if pac:
                 m = show_package_meta(apiurl, prj, pac)
-                metaroot = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+                metaroot = ET.fromstring(b''.join(m))
                 if not opts.nodevelproject:
                     while metaroot.findall('devel'):
                         d = metaroot.find('devel')
@@ -8186,18 +8194,18 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                         if opts.verbose:
                             print("Following to the development space: %s/%s" % (prj, pac))
                         m = show_package_meta(apiurl, prj, pac)
-                        metaroot = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+                        metaroot = ET.fromstring(b''.join(m))
                     if not metaroot.findall('person') and not metaroot.findall('group'):
                         if opts.verbose:
                             print("No dedicated persons in package defined, showing the project persons.")
                         pac = None
                         m = show_project_meta(apiurl, prj)
-                        metaroot = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+                        metaroot = ET.fromstring(b''.join(m))
             else:
                 # fallback to project lookup for old servers
                 if prj and not searchresult:
                     m = show_project_meta(apiurl, prj)
-                    metaroot = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+                    metaroot = ET.fromstring(b''.join(m))
 
             # extract the maintainers
             projects = []
@@ -8358,10 +8366,13 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         u = makeurl(apiurl, ['source', project, package, filename], query=query)
         if subcmd == 'less':
             f = http_GET(u)
-            run_pager(''.join(f.readlines()))
+            run_pager(b''.join(f.readlines()))
         else:
             for data in streamfile(u):
-                sys.stdout.write(data)
+                if isinstance(data, str):
+                    sys.stdout.write(data)
+                else:
+                    sys.stdout.write(decode_it(data))
 
 
     # helper function to download a file from a specific revision
@@ -8457,7 +8468,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         u = makeurl(apiurl, ['source', prj, package], query=query)
         f = http_GET(u)
         meta = f.readlines()
-        root_new = ET.fromstring(''.join(meta))
+        root_new = ET.fromstring(b''.join(meta))
         dir_new = { 'apiurl': apiurl, 'project': prj, 'package': package }
         dir_new['srcmd5'] = root_new.get('srcmd5')
         dir_new['entries'] = [[n.get('name'), n.get('md5')] for n in root_new.findall('entry')]
@@ -8501,7 +8512,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         os.mkdir(destdir)
 
         Package.init_package(apiurl, target_prj, target_package, destdir)
-        store_write_string(destdir, '_files', ''.join(meta) + '\n')
+        store_write_string(destdir, '_files', b''.join(meta) + b'\n')
         store_write_string(destdir, '_linkrepair', '')
         pac = Package(destdir)
 
@@ -8610,7 +8621,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         u = makeurl(p.apiurl, ['source', p.prjname, p.name], query=query)
         f = http_GET(u)
         meta = f.readlines()
-        root_new = ET.fromstring(''.join(meta))
+        root_new = ET.fromstring(b''.join(meta))
         linkinfo_new = root_new.find('linkinfo')
         if linkinfo_new == None:
             raise oscerr.APIError('link is not a really a link?')
@@ -8783,7 +8794,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             buf = f.read(16384)
             if not buf:
                 break
-            sys.stdout.write(buf)
+            sys.stdout.write(decode_it(buf))
 
     @cmdln.option('-m', '--message',
                   help='add MESSAGE to changes (do not open an editor)')
@@ -8823,7 +8834,7 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
             import glob, re
             try:
                 fn_changelog = glob.glob('*.changes')[0]
-                fp = file(fn_changelog)
+                fp = open(fn_changelog)
                 titleline = fp.readline()
                 fp.close()
                 if re.match('^\*\W+(.+\W+\d{1,2}\W+20\d{2})\W+(.+)\W+<(.+)>\W+(.+)$', titleline):
diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index 344362bb..52247a3a 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import errno
 import shlex
 import hashlib
 
+
 try:
     from urllib.parse import urlsplit, urlunsplit, urlparse, quote_plus, urlencode, unquote
     from urllib.error import HTTPError
@@ -49,6 +50,13 @@ except ImportError:
 from . import oscerr
 from . import conf
 
+try:
+    from functools import cmp_to_key
+except ImportError:
+    from .util.helper import cmp_to_key
+
+from osc.util.helper import decode_list, decode_it
+
 try:
     # python 2.6 and python 2.7
     unicode
@@ -62,6 +70,11 @@ except:
     unicode = lambda x, *args: x
     ET_ENCODING = "unicode"
 
+def compare(a, b): return cmp(a[1:], b[1:])
+
+def cmp(a, b):
+    return (a > b) - (a < b)
+
 DISTURL_RE = re.compile(r"^(?P<bs>.*)://(?P<apiurl>.*?)/(?P<project>.*?)/(?P<repository>.*?)/(?P<revision>.*)-(?P<source>.*)$")
 BUILDLOGURL_RE = re.compile(r"^(?P<apiurl>https?://.*?)/build/(?P<project>.*?)/(?P<repository>.*?)/(?P<arch>.*?)/(?P<package>.*?)/_log$")
 BUFSIZE = 1024*1024
@@ -331,7 +344,7 @@ class Serviceinfo:
     def addVerifyFile(self, serviceinfo_node, filename):
         import hashlib
 
-        f = open(filename, 'r')
+        f = open(filename, 'rb')
         digest = hashlib.sha256(f.read()).hexdigest()
         f.close()
 
@@ -1849,8 +1862,8 @@ class Package:
         meta = show_package_meta(self.apiurl, self.prjname, self.name)
         if meta != "":
             # is empty for _project for example
-            meta = ''.join(meta)
-            store_write_string(self.absdir, '_meta', meta + '\n')
+            meta = b''.join(meta)
+            store_write_string(self.absdir, '_meta', meta + b'\n')
 
     def findfilebyname(self, n):
         for i in self.filelist:
@@ -2115,7 +2128,7 @@ rev: %s
             argument force supress the confirm question
         """
 
-        m = ''.join(show_package_meta(self.apiurl, self.prjname, self.name))
+        m = b''.join(show_package_meta(self.apiurl, self.prjname, self.name))
 
         root = ET.fromstring(m)
         root.find('title').text = self.summary
@@ -2130,7 +2143,7 @@ rev: %s
 
         if not force:
             print('*' * 36, 'old', '*' * 36)
-            print(m)
+            print(decode_it(m))
             print('*' * 36, 'new', '*' * 36)
             print(ET.tostring(root, encoding=ET_ENCODING))
             print('*' * 72)
@@ -3565,7 +3578,7 @@ def show_attribute_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, subpac, attribute, with_defaults, with
 
 def show_devel_project(apiurl, prj, pac):
     m = show_package_meta(apiurl, prj, pac)
-    node = ET.fromstring(''.join(m)).find('devel')
+    node = ET.fromstring(b''.join(m)).find('devel')
     if node is None:
         return None, None
     else:
@@ -3574,7 +3587,7 @@ def show_devel_project(apiurl, prj, pac):
 
 def set_devel_project(apiurl, prj, pac, devprj=None, devpac=None):
     meta = show_package_meta(apiurl, prj, pac)
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(meta))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(meta))
     node = root.find('devel')
     if node is None:
         if devprj is None:
@@ -3647,8 +3660,12 @@ class metafile:
         self.url = url
         self.change_is_required = change_is_required
         (fd, self.filename) = tempfile.mkstemp(prefix = 'osc_metafile.', suffix = file_ext)
-        f = os.fdopen(fd, 'w')
-        f.write(''.join(input))
+        if not input or isinstance(input[0], str) or isinstance(input, str):
+            f = os.fdopen(fd, 'w')
+            f.write(''.join(input))
+        else:
+            f = os.fdopen(fd, 'wb')
+            f.write(b''.join(input))
         f.close()
         self.hash_orig = dgst(self.filename)
 
@@ -3681,8 +3698,8 @@ class metafile:
                     # examine the error - we can't raise an exception because we might want
                     # to try again
                     data = e.read()
-                    if '<summary>' in data:
-                        print(data.split('<summary>')[1].split('</summary>')[0], file=sys.stderr)
+                    if b'<summary>' in data:
+                        print(data.split(b'<summary>')[1].split(b'</summary>')[0], file=sys.stderr)
                     ri = raw_input('Try again? ([y/N]): ')
                     if ri not in ['y', 'Y']:
                         break
@@ -3799,7 +3816,20 @@ def edit_meta(metatype,
     if metatype == 'pkg':
         # check if the package is a link to a different project
         project, package = path_args
-        orgprj = ET.fromstring(''.join(data)).get('project')
+        # data can be a bytes object, a list with strings, a list with bytes, just a string.
+        # So we need the following even if it is ugly.
+        if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+            if isinstance(data, bytes):
+                data = decode_it(data)
+                orgprj = ET.fromstring(''.join(data)).get('project')
+            elif isinstance(data, list):
+                decode_data = decode_list(data)
+                orgprj = ET.fromstring(''.join(decode_data)).get('project')
+            else:
+                orgprj = ET.fromstring(''.join(data)).get('project')
+        else:
+            orgprj = ET.fromstring(''.join(data)).get('project')
+
         if orgprj is not None and unquote(project) != orgprj:
             print('The package is linked from a different project.')
             print('If you want to edit the meta of the package create first a branch.')
@@ -3839,7 +3869,7 @@ def show_files_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=None, expand=False, linkrev=None,
 
 def show_upstream_srcmd5(apiurl, prj, pac, expand=False, revision=None, meta=False, include_service_files=False, deleted=False):
     m = show_files_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, expand=expand, revision=revision, meta=meta, deleted=deleted)
-    et = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+    et = ET.fromstring(m)
     if include_service_files:
         try:
             sinfo = et.find('serviceinfo')
@@ -3852,7 +3882,7 @@ def show_upstream_srcmd5(apiurl, prj, pac, expand=False, revision=None, meta=Fal
 
 def show_upstream_xsrcmd5(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=None, linkrev=None, linkrepair=False, meta=False, include_service_files=False):
     m = show_files_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=revision, linkrev=linkrev, linkrepair=linkrepair, meta=meta, expand=include_service_files)
-    et = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+    et = ET.fromstring(m)
     if include_service_files:
         return et.get('srcmd5')
 
@@ -3891,7 +3921,7 @@ def get_project_sourceinfo(apiurl, project, nofilename, *packages):
             raise
         if len(packages) == 1:
             raise oscerr.APIError('package name too long: %s' % packages[0])
-        n = len(packages) / 2
+        n = int(len(packages) / 2)
         pkgs = packages[:n]
         res = get_project_sourceinfo(apiurl, project, nofilename, *pkgs)
         pkgs = packages[n:]
@@ -3906,12 +3936,12 @@ def get_project_sourceinfo(apiurl, project, nofilename, *packages):
 
 def show_upstream_rev_vrev(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=None, expand=False, meta=False):
     m = show_files_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=revision, expand=expand, meta=meta)
-    et = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+    et = ET.fromstring(m)
     return et.get('rev'), et.get('vrev')
 
 def show_upstream_rev(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=None, expand=False, linkrev=None, meta=False, include_service_files=False):
     m = show_files_meta(apiurl, prj, pac, revision=revision, expand=expand, linkrev=linkrev, meta=meta)
-    et = ET.fromstring(''.join(m))
+    et = ET.fromstring(m)
     if include_service_files:
         try:
             sinfo = et.find('serviceinfo')
@@ -4012,10 +4042,16 @@ def run_pager(message, tmp_suffix=''):
         return
 
     if not sys.stdout.isatty():
-        print(message)
+        if isinstance(message, str):
+            print(message)
+        else:
+            print(decode_it(message))
     else:
         tmpfile = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix=tmp_suffix)
-        tmpfile.write(message)
+        if isinstance(message, str):
+            tmpfile.write(bytes(message, 'utf-8'))
+        else:
+            tmpfile.write(message)
         tmpfile.flush()
         pager = os.getenv('PAGER', default=get_default_pager())
         cmd = shlex.split(pager) + [tmpfile.name]
@@ -4042,6 +4078,8 @@ def _edit_message_open_editor(filename, data, orig_mtime):
     import tempfile
     editor = _editor_command()
     mtime = os.stat(filename).st_mtime
+    if isinstance(data, str):
+        data = bytes(data, 'utf-8')
     if mtime == orig_mtime:
         # prepare file for editors
         if editor[0] in ('vi', 'vim'):
@@ -4051,7 +4089,7 @@ def _edit_message_open_editor(filename, data, orig_mtime):
                 editor.extend(['-c', ':r %s' % f.name, filename])
                 run_external(editor[0], *editor[1:])
         else:
-            with open(filename, 'w') as f:
+            with open(filename, 'wb') as f:
                 f.write(data)
             orig_mtime = os.stat(filename).st_mtime
             run_editor(filename)
@@ -4543,7 +4581,7 @@ def get_group_meta(apiurl, group):
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['group', quote_plus(group)])
     try:
         f = http_GET(u)
-        return ''.join(f.readlines())
+        return b''.join(f.readlines())
     except HTTPError:
         print('group \'%s\' not found' % group)
         return None
@@ -4552,7 +4590,7 @@ def get_user_meta(apiurl, user):
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['person', quote_plus(user)])
     try:
         f = http_GET(u)
-        return ''.join(f.readlines())
+        return b''.join(f.readlines())
     except HTTPError:
         print('user \'%s\' not found' % user)
         return None
@@ -4594,7 +4632,10 @@ def download(url, filename, progress_obj = None, mtime = None):
         try:
             o = os.fdopen(fd, 'wb')
             for buf in streamfile(url, http_GET, BUFSIZE, progress_obj=progress_obj):
-                o.write(bytes(buf, "utf-8"))
+                if isinstance(buf, str):
+                    o.write(bytes(buf, "utf-8"))
+                else:
+                    o.write(buf)
             o.close()
             os.rename(tmpfile, filename)
         except:
@@ -4807,7 +4848,7 @@ def server_diff_noex(apiurl,
         msg = None
         body = None
         try:
-            body = e.read()
+            body = decode_it(e.read())
             if not 'bad link' in body:
                 return '# diff failed: ' + body
         except:
@@ -5027,7 +5068,7 @@ def replace_pkg_meta(pkgmeta, new_name, new_prj, keep_maintainers = False,
     only maintainer (unless keep_maintainers is set). Additionally remove the
     develproject entry (<devel />) unless keep_develproject is true.
     """
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(pkgmeta))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(pkgmeta))
     root.set('name', new_name)
     root.set('project', new_prj)
     # never take releasename, it needs to be explicit
@@ -5512,7 +5553,7 @@ def get_distibutions(apiurl, discon=False):
     else:
         result_line_templ = '%(name)-25s %(project)-25s %(repository)-25s %(reponame)s'
         f = http_GET(makeurl(apiurl, ['distributions']))
-        root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))
+        root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(f))
 
         for node in root.findall('distribution'):
             rmap = {}
@@ -5538,7 +5579,7 @@ def get_platforms_of_project(apiurl, prj):
 
 def get_repositories_of_project(apiurl, prj):
     f = show_project_meta(apiurl, prj)
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(f))
 
     r = [ node.get('name') for node in root.findall('repository')]
     return r
@@ -5580,7 +5621,7 @@ class Repo:
 
 def get_repos_of_project(apiurl, prj):
     f = show_project_meta(apiurl, prj)
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(f))
 
     for node in root.findall('repository'):
         for node2 in node.findall('arch'):
@@ -5751,7 +5792,7 @@ def get_package_results(apiurl, project, package=None, wait=False, *args, **kwar
     while True:
         waiting = False
         try:
-            xml = ''.join(show_results_meta(apiurl, project, package, *args, **kwargs))
+            xml = b''.join(show_results_meta(apiurl, project, package, *args, **kwargs))
         except HTTPError as e:
             # check for simple timeout error and fetch again
             if e.code == 502 or e.code == 504:
@@ -5792,7 +5833,7 @@ def get_prj_results(apiurl, prj, hide_legend=False, csv=False, status_filter=Non
     r = []
 
     f = show_prj_results_meta(apiurl, prj)
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(f))
 
     pacs = []
     # sequence of (repo,arch) tuples
@@ -5972,7 +6013,6 @@ def get_prj_results(apiurl, prj, hide_legend=False, csv=False, status_filter=Non
     return r
 
 
-
 def streamfile(url, http_meth = http_GET, bufsize=8192, data=None, progress_obj=None, text=None):
     """
     performs http_meth on url and read bufsize bytes from the response
@@ -6032,8 +6072,12 @@ def streamfile(url, http_meth = http_GET, bufsize=8192, data=None, progress_obj=
 
 def buildlog_strip_time(data):
     """Strips the leading build time from the log"""
-    time_regex = re.compile('^\[[^\]]*\] ', re.M)
-    return time_regex.sub('', data)
+    if isinstance(data, str):
+        time_regex = re.compile('^\[[^\]]*\] ', re.M)
+        return time_regex.sub('', data)
+    else:
+        time_regex = re.compile(b'^\[[^\]]*\] ', re.M)
+        return time_regex.sub(b'', data)
 
 
 def print_buildlog(apiurl, prj, package, repository, arch, offset=0, strip_time=False, last=False):
@@ -6042,11 +6086,14 @@ def print_buildlog(apiurl, prj, package, repository, arch, offset=0, strip_time=
     def print_data(data, strip_time=False):
         if strip_time:
             data = buildlog_strip_time(data)
-        sys.stdout.write(data.translate(all_bytes, remove_bytes))
+        sys.stdout.write(decode_it(data.translate(all_bytes, remove_bytes)))
 
     # to protect us against control characters
     import string
-    all_bytes = string.maketrans('', '')
+    if sys.version_info >= (3, 0):
+        all_bytes = bytes.maketrans(b'', b'')
+    else:
+        all_bytes = string.maketrans(b'', b'')
     remove_bytes = all_bytes[:8] + all_bytes[14:32] # accept tabs and newlines
 
     query = {'nostream' : '1', 'start' : '%s' % offset}
@@ -6058,7 +6105,7 @@ def print_buildlog(apiurl, prj, package, repository, arch, offset=0, strip_time=
         start_offset = offset
         u = makeurl(apiurl, ['build', prj, repository, arch, package, '_log'], query=query)
         try:
-            for data in streamfile(u, bufsize="line"):
+            for data in streamfile(u):
                 offset += len(data)
                 print_data(data, strip_time)
         except IncompleteRead as e:
@@ -6119,7 +6166,7 @@ def get_worker_info(apiurl, worker):
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['worker', worker])
     f = http_GET(u)
 
-    return f.read()
+    return decode_it(f.read())
 
 
 def check_constraints(apiurl, prj, repository, arch, package, constraintsfile=None):
@@ -6130,7 +6177,7 @@ def check_constraints(apiurl, prj, repository, arch, package, constraintsfile=No
     query['arch'] = arch
     u = makeurl(apiurl, ['worker'], query)
     f = http_POST(u, data=constraintsfile)
-    root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))
+    root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(f))
     return [node.get('name') for node in root.findall('entry')]
 
 
@@ -6271,7 +6318,7 @@ def get_commitlog(apiurl, prj, package, revision, format = 'text', meta = False,
         try:
             comment = node.find('comment').text.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding(), 'replace')
         except:
-            comment = '<no message>'
+            comment = b'<no message>'
         try:
             requestid = node.find('requestid').text.encode(locale.getpreferredencoding(), 'replace')
         except:
@@ -6294,10 +6341,10 @@ def get_commitlog(apiurl, prj, package, revision, format = 'text', meta = False,
             r.append('</logentry>')
         else:
             if requestid:
-                requestid = "rq" + requestid
+                requestid = decode_it((b"rq" + requestid))
             s = '-' * 76 + \
                 '\nr%s | %s | %s | %s | %s | %s\n' % (rev, user, t, srcmd5, version, requestid) + \
-                '\n' + comment
+                '\n' + decode_it(comment)
             r.append(s)
 
     if format not in ['csv', 'xml']:
@@ -6431,6 +6478,8 @@ def store_write_string(dir, file, string, subdir=''):
     fname = os.path.join(dir, store, subdir, file)
     try:
         f = open(fname + '.new', 'w')
+        if not isinstance(string, str):
+            string = decode_it(string)
         f.write(string)
         f.close()
         os.rename(fname + '.new', fname)
@@ -6809,7 +6858,11 @@ def is_rpm(f):
     except:
         return False
 
-    if h == '\xed\xab\xee\xdb':
+    if isinstance(h, str):
+        isrpmstr = '\xed\xab\xee\xdb'
+    else:
+        isrpmstr = b'\xed\xab\xee\xdb'
+    if h == isrpmstr:
         return True
     else:
         return False
@@ -6825,7 +6878,8 @@ def is_srcrpm(f):
     except:
         return False
 
-    if h[7] == '\x01':
+    issrcrpm = bytes(bytearray([h[7]])).decode('utf-8')
+    if issrcrpm == '\x01':
         return True
     else:
         return False
@@ -6847,7 +6901,7 @@ def addPerson(apiurl, prj, pac, user, role="maintainer"):
                        create_new=False)
 
     if data and get_user_meta(apiurl, user) != None:
-        root = ET.fromstring(''.join(data))
+        root = ET.fromstring(b''.join(data))
         found = False
         for person in root.getiterator('person'):
             if person.get('userid') == user and person.get('role') == role:
@@ -7025,7 +7079,7 @@ def addDownloadUrlService(url):
 
     # for pretty output
     xmlindent(s)
-    f = open(service_file, 'wb')
+    f = open(service_file, 'w')
     f.write(ET.tostring(s, encoding=ET_ENCODING))
     f.close()
     if addfile:
@@ -7047,7 +7101,7 @@ def addDownloadUrlService(url):
 
     # for pretty output
     xmlindent(s)
-    f = open(service_file, 'wb')
+    f = open(service_file, 'w')
     f.write(ET.tostring(s, encoding=ET_ENCODING))
     f.close()
 
@@ -7208,7 +7262,7 @@ def get_commit_msg(wc_dir, pacs):
     footer = []
     lines = []
     for p in pacs:
-        states = sorted(p.get_status(False, ' ', '?'), lambda x, y: cmp(x[1], y[1]))
+        states = sorted(p.get_status(False, ' ', '?'), key=cmp_to_key(compare))
         changed = [statfrmt(st, os.path.normpath(os.path.join(p.dir, filename))) for st, filename in states]
         if changed:
             footer += changed
@@ -7287,7 +7341,7 @@ def request_interactive_review(apiurl, request, initial_cmd='', group=None,
             except (ValueError, IndexError):
                 print('Invalid rpmlintlog index. Please choose between 0 and %i' % (len(lintlogs)-1))
         try:
-            print(get_rpmlint_log(apiurl, **lintlogs[lint_n]))
+            print(decode_it(get_rpmlint_log(apiurl, **lintlogs[lint_n])))
         except HTTPError as e:
             if e.code == 404:
                 print('No rpmlintlog for %s %s' % (lintlogs[lint_n]['repo'],
@@ -7363,12 +7417,12 @@ def request_interactive_review(apiurl, request, initial_cmd='', group=None,
                     tmpfile.close()
                     tmpfile = None
                 if tmpfile is None:
-                    tmpfile = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.diff')
+                    tmpfile = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(suffix='.diff', mode='r+')
                     tmpfile.write(req_summary)
                     tmpfile.write(issues)
                     try:
                         diff = request_diff(apiurl, request.reqid)
-                        tmpfile.write(diff)
+                        tmpfile.write(decode_it(diff))
                     except HTTPError as e:
                         if e.code != 400:
                             raise
diff --git a/osc/oscssl.py b/osc/oscssl.py
index 186c98db..0e7401b2 100644
--- a/osc/oscssl.py
+++ b/osc/oscssl.py
@@ -5,9 +5,8 @@
 
 from __future__ import print_function
 
-import M2Crypto.httpslib
 from M2Crypto.SSL.Checker import SSLVerificationError
-from M2Crypto import m2, SSL
+from M2Crypto import m2, SSL, httpslib
 import M2Crypto.m2urllib2
 import socket
 import sys
@@ -185,22 +184,28 @@ class myHTTPSHandler(M2Crypto.m2urllib2.HTTPSHandler):
     # "do_open()" and "https_open()" so that we just need to override
     # the small "https_open()" method...)
     def https_open(self, req):
-        host = req.get_host()
+        # https://docs.python.org/3.3/library/urllib.request.html#urllib.request.Request.get_host
+        try:     # up to python-3.2
+            host = req.get_host()
+        except AttributeError:  # from python-3.3
+            host = req.host
         if not host:
-            raise M2Crypto.m2urllib2.URLError('no host given: ' + req.get_full_url())
+            raise M2Crypto.m2urllib2.URLError('no host given')
 
         # Our change: Check to see if we're using a proxy.
         # Then create an appropriate ssl-aware connection.
         full_url = req.get_full_url()
         target_host = urlparse(full_url)[1]
 
-        if (target_host != host):
-            h = myProxyHTTPSConnection(host = host, appname = self.appname, ssl_context = self.ctx)
-            # M2Crypto.ProxyHTTPSConnection.putrequest expects a fullurl
-            selector = full_url
+        if target_host != host:
+            request_uri = urldefrag(full_url)[0]
+            h = httpslib.ProxyHTTPSConnection(host=host, ssl_context=self.ctx)
         else:
-            h = myHTTPSConnection(host = host, appname = self.appname, ssl_context = self.ctx)
-            selector = req.get_selector()
+            try:     # up to python-3.2
+                request_uri = req.get_selector()
+            except AttributeError:  # from python-3.3
+                request_uri = req.selector
+            h = httpslib.HTTPSConnection(host=host, ssl_context=self.ctx)
         # End our change
         h.set_debuglevel(self._debuglevel)
 
@@ -214,10 +219,9 @@ class myHTTPSHandler(M2Crypto.m2urllib2.HTTPSHandler):
         # request.
         headers["Connection"] = "close"
         try:
-            h.request(req.get_method(), selector, req.data, headers)
+            h.request(req.get_method(), request_uri, req.data, headers)
             r = h.getresponse()
-        except socket.error as err: # XXX what error?
-            err.filename = full_url
+        except socket.error as err:  # XXX what error?
             raise M2Crypto.m2urllib2.URLError(err)
 
         # Pick apart the HTTPResponse object to get the addinfourl
@@ -227,18 +231,26 @@ class myHTTPSHandler(M2Crypto.m2urllib2.HTTPSHandler):
         # for Windows.  That adapter calls recv(), so delegate recv()
         # to read().  This weird wrapping allows the returned object to
         # have readline() and readlines() methods.
-
-        # XXX It might be better to extract the read buffering code
-        # out of socket._fileobject() and into a base class.
-
         r.recv = r.read
-        fp = socket._fileobject(r)
+        if (sys.version_info < (3, 0)):
+            fp = socket._fileobject(r, close=True)
+        else:
+            r._decref_socketios = lambda: None
+            r.ssl = h.sock.ssl
+            r._timeout = -1.0
+            # hack to bypass python3 bug with 0 buffer size and
+            # http/client.py readinto method for response class
+            if r.length is not None and r.length == 0:
+                r.readinto = lambda b: 0
+            r.recv_into = r.readinto
+            fp = socket.SocketIO(r, 'rb')
 
         resp = addinfourl(fp, r.msg, req.get_full_url())
         resp.code = r.status
         resp.msg = r.reason
         return resp
 
+
 class myHTTPSConnection(M2Crypto.httpslib.HTTPSConnection):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.appname = kwargs.pop('appname', 'generic')
diff --git a/osc/util/helper.py b/osc/util/helper.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e25b73c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/osc/util/helper.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Copyright (C) 2018 SUSE Linux.  All rights reserved.
+# This program is free software; it may be used, copied, modified
+# and distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence,
+# either version 2, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+
+def cmp_to_key(mycmp):
+    """ Converts a cmp= function into a key= function.
+    """
+
+    class K(object):
+        def __init__(self, obj, *args):
+            self.obj = obj
+
+        def __lt__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) < 0
+
+        def __gt__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) > 0
+
+        def __eq__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) == 0
+
+        def __le__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) <= 0
+
+        def __ge__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) >= 0
+
+        def __ne__(self, other):
+            return mycmp(self.obj, other.obj) != 0
+
+        def __hash__(self):
+            raise TypeError('hash not implemented')
+
+    return K
+
+
+def decode_list(ilist):
+    """ Decodes the elements of a list if needed
+    """
+
+    dlist = []
+    for elem in ilist:
+        if not isinstance(elem, str):
+            dlist.append(decode_it(elem))
+        else:
+            dlist.append(elem)
+    return dlist
+
+
+def decode_it(obj):
+    """ Decodes the given object if obj is not a string
+        based on the chardet module if possible
+    """
+
+    if isinstance(obj, str):
+        return obj
+    else:
+        try:
+            import chardet
+            return obj.decode(chardet.detect(obj)['encoding'])
+        except:
+            import locale
+            return obj.decode(locale.getlocale()[1])
diff --git a/osc/util/repodata.py b/osc/util/repodata.py
index cb091139..92031706 100644
--- a/osc/util/repodata.py
+++ b/osc/util/repodata.py
@@ -177,13 +177,13 @@ class RepoDataQueryResult(osc.util.packagequery.PackageQueryResult):
         return None
 
     def vercmp(self, other):
-        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(str(self.epoch()), str(other.epoch()))
+        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(str(self.epoch()).encode(), str(other.epoch()).encode())
         if res != 0:
             return res
-        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(self.version(), other.version())
+        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(self.version().encode(), other.version().encode())
         if res != 0:
             return res
-        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(self.release(), other.release())
+        res = osc.util.rpmquery.RpmQuery.rpmvercmp(self.release().encode(), other.release().encode())
         return res
 
     def version(self):
diff --git a/osc/util/rpmquery.py b/osc/util/rpmquery.py
index 534636a7..535cd37e 100644
--- a/osc/util/rpmquery.py
+++ b/osc/util/rpmquery.py
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ import os
 import re
 import struct
 from . import packagequery
+from osc.util.helper import decode_it
+
+def cmp(a, b):
+    return (a > b) - (a < b)
 
 class RpmError(packagequery.PackageError):
     pass
@@ -184,14 +188,14 @@ class RpmQuery(packagequery.PackageQuery, packagequery.PackageQueryResult):
                     continue
             # RPMSENSE_SENSEMASK = 15 (see rpmlib.h) but ignore RPMSENSE_SERIAL (= 1 << 0) therefore use 14
             if flags & 14:
-                name += ' '
+                name += b' '
                 if flags & self.GREATER:
-                    name += '>'
+                    name += b'>'
                 elif flags & self.LESS:
-                    name += '<'
+                    name += b'<'
                 if flags & self.EQUAL:
-                    name += '='
-                name += ' %s' % ver
+                    name += b'='
+                name += b' %s' % ver
             res.append(name)
         return res
 
@@ -288,7 +292,7 @@ class RpmQuery(packagequery.PackageQuery, packagequery.PackageQueryResult):
             arch = 'src'
         else:
             arch = self.arch()
-        return RpmQuery.filename(self.name(), None, self.version(), self.release(), arch)
+        return RpmQuery.filename(decode_it(self.name()), None, decode_it(self.version()), decode_it(self.release()), decode_it(arch))
 
     @staticmethod
     def query(filename):
@@ -318,6 +322,8 @@ class RpmQuery(packagequery.PackageQuery, packagequery.PackageQueryResult):
         if ver1 == ver2:
             return 0
         res = 0
+        ver1 = decode_it(ver1)
+        ver2 = decode_it(ver2)
         while res == 0:
             # remove all leading non alphanumeric or tilde chars
             ver1 = re.sub('^[^a-zA-Z0-9~]*', '', ver1)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index e306f707..91a7eb85 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -2,11 +2,13 @@
 
 from distutils.core import setup
 import distutils.core
-import distutils.command.build
-import distutils.command.install_data
+from distutils.command import build, install_data
 import os.path
 import osc.core
 import sys
+
+import setuptools
+
 from osc import commandline
 from osc import babysitter
 # optional support for py2exe
@@ -17,7 +19,7 @@ except:
     HAVE_PY2EXE = False
 
 
-class build_osc(distutils.command.build.build, object):
+class build_osc(build.build, object):
     """
     Custom build command which generates man page.
     """
@@ -28,7 +30,7 @@ class build_osc(distutils.command.build.build, object):
         import gzip
         man_path = os.path.join(self.build_base, 'osc.1.gz')
         distutils.log.info('generating %s' % man_path)
-        outfile = gzip.open(man_path, 'w')
+        outfile = gzip.open(man_path, 'wt')
         osccli = commandline.Osc(stdout=outfile)
         # FIXME: we cannot call the main method because osc expects an ~/.oscrc
         # file (this would break builds in environments like the obs)
@@ -60,15 +62,15 @@ class build_docs(distutils.core.Command):
         src_dir = (self.distribution.package_dir or {'': ''})['']
         src_dir = os.path.join(os.getcwd(),  src_dir)
         import sphinx
-        sphinx.main(['runme', 
-                    '-D', 'version=%s' % metadata.get_version(), 
+        sphinx.main(['runme',
+                    '-D', 'version=%s' % metadata.get_version(),
                     os.path.join('docs',), os.path.join(self.built_docs, 'docs')])
 
 
 # take a potential build-base option into account (for instance, if osc is
 # build and installed like this:
 # python setup.py build --build-base=<dir> ... install ...)
-class install_data(distutils.command.install_data.install_data, object):
+class install_data(install_data.install_data, object):
     def initialize_options(self):
         super(install_data, self).initialize_options()
         self.built_data = None
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ data_files = []
 if sys.platform[:3] != 'win':
     data_files.append((os.path.join('share', 'man', 'man1'), ['osc.1.gz']))
 
-setup(name='osc',
+setuptools.setup(name='osc',
       version = osc.core.__version__,
       description = 'openSUSE commander',
       long_description = 'Command-line client for the openSUSE Build Service, which allows to access repositories in the openSUSE Build Service in similar way as Subversion repositories.',
diff --git a/tests/suite.py b/tests/suite.py
index 6d94d446..d8fa512b 100644
--- a/tests/suite.py
+++ b/tests/suite.py
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import test_setlinkrev
 import test_prdiff
 import test_conf
 import test_results
+import test_helpers
 
 suite = unittest.TestSuite()
 suite.addTests(test_addfiles.suite())
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ suite.addTests(test_setlinkrev.suite())
 suite.addTests(test_prdiff.suite())
 suite.addTests(test_conf.suite())
 suite.addTests(test_results.suite())
+suite.addTests(test_helpers.suite())
 
 if have_xmlrunner:
     result = xmlrunner.XMLTestRunner(output=os.path.join(os.getcwd(), 'junit-xml-results')).run(suite)
diff --git a/tests/test_helpers.py b/tests/test_helpers.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..571b828e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_helpers.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import unittest
+from osc.util.helper import decode_it, decode_list
+
+def suite():
+    return unittest.makeSuite(TestResults)
+
+class TestResults(unittest.TestCase):
+    def testDecodeList(self):
+        strlist = ['Test1', 'Test2', 'Test3']
+        mixlist = ['Test1', b'Test2', 'Test3']
+        byteslist = [b'Test1', b'Test2', b'Test3']
+
+        out = decode_list(strlist)
+        self.assertListEqual(out, strlist)
+
+        out = decode_list(mixlist)
+        self.assertListEqual(out, strlist)
+
+        out = decode_list(byteslist)
+        self.assertListEqual(out, strlist)
+
+
+    def testDecodeIt(self):
+        bytes_obj = b'Test the decoding'
+        string_obj = 'Test the decoding'
+
+        out = decode_it(bytes_obj)
+        self.assertEqual(out, string_obj)
+
+        out = decode_it(string_obj)
+        self.assertEqual(out, string_obj)
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()
+