utils.py: Workaround TypeError with Python 2.7.13 in Windows

[wiiaboo]

• At least skimmed through adding new extractor tutorial and youtube-dl coding conventions sections
• Searched the bugtracker for similar pull requests

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What is the purpose of your pull request?

• Bug fix

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Fixes #11540
More exactly it's a workaround, not a fix, but people shouldn't be forced to use a months old version just because of a TypeError in a LoadLibrary that isn't even relevant in Windows.

Also recommend using Python2 for the official builds, since using 3.4.4 (more than a year old) is probably one of the bigger reasons why this error is so prevalent in Windows lately.

[yan12125]

Thanks for opening this. How many Python versions have you tested?

[wiiaboo]

Well, the TypeError only triggers with Windows, so I tested with 2.7.12 (clean install), which triggered the OSError and carried on fine, and 2.7.13 (clean install), which triggers the TypeError and also carried on fine.

[yan12125]

It's less likely to break existing codes than the str() approach, so I guess it's safe to merge it. Could you add some comments for TypeError?

[wiiaboo]

Ran py -2 --version before to make sure it was using the right versions each time, too; then tested running youtube-dl with py -2 -m youtube_dl.

[wiiaboo]

Should I open a issue asking for the official builds to switch to using Python 2 instead of 3.4.4?

[wiiaboo]

The fix would only need to be more involved were LoadLibrary be needed for a Windows lib, but this is the only use of it in Youtube-DL.

[dstftw]

Official builds won't switch to python 2 since this brings encoding issues. Actually switch to python 3 from python 2 has taken place due to this.

[wiiaboo]

So the only fix for official builds with SSL errors is to use --no-check-certificate? How's #10014 proceeding?

[dstftw]

Most of the SSL errors reported are due to expired certificates in system store removing which fixes the problem.

[wiiaboo]

There's no expired certificates on my system store and I can consistently reproduce the SSL errors with 3.4.4.

If there were issues with expired certificates wouldn't the error also happen with every other Python version?

[yan12125]

I can consistently reproduce the SSL errors with 3.4.4

There are tons of reasons leading to SSL failures; that's why I propose http://bugs.python.org/issue28182