diff -Naur smart-0.51/smart/backends/rpm/pm.py smart-0.51.tpg/smart/backends/rpm/pm.py
--- smart-0.51/smart/backends/rpm/pm.py	2006-08-31 17:59:46.000000000 +0000
+++ smart-0.51.tpg/smart/backends/rpm/pm.py	2007-08-28 09:08:05.000000000 +0000
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
 try:
     ENCODING = locale.getpreferredencoding()
 except locale.Error:
-    ENCODING = "C"
+    ENCODING = "ascii"
 
 class RPMPackageManager(PackageManager):
 
diff -Naur smart-0.51/smart/cache.py smart-0.51.tpg/smart/cache.py
--- smart-0.51/smart/cache.py	2005-06-08 17:41:27.000000000 +0000
+++ smart-0.51.tpg/smart/cache.py	2007-08-28 09:08:05.000000000 +0000
@@ -641,11 +641,13 @@
             if not loader._packages:
                 loader.load()
         self.loadFileProvides()
+        hooks.call("cache-loaded-pre-link", self)
         self._objmap.clear()
         self.linkDeps()
         prog.setDone()
         prog.show()
         prog.stop()
+        hooks.call("cache-loaded", self)
 
     def unload(self):
         self.reset()
diff -Naur smart-0.51/smart/ccache.c smart-0.51.tpg/smart/ccache.c
--- smart-0.51/smart/ccache.c	2007-01-22 12:23:56.000000000 +0000
+++ smart-0.51.tpg/smart/ccache.c	2007-08-28 09:08:05.000000000 +0000
@@ -128,21 +128,19 @@
     PyObject *_objmap;
 } CacheObject;
 
-/*
 static PyObject *
-getSysConf(void)
+getHooks(void)
 {
-    static PyObject *sysconf = NULL;
-    if (sysconf == NULL) {
+    static PyObject *hooks = NULL;
+    if (hooks == NULL) {
         PyObject *module = PyImport_ImportModule("smart");
         if (module) {
-            sysconf = PyObject_GetAttrString(module, "sysconf");
+            hooks = PyObject_GetAttrString(module, "hooks");
             Py_DECREF(module);
         }
     }
-    return sysconf;
+    return hooks;
 }
-*/
 
 static PyObject *
 getPkgConf(void)
@@ -2766,6 +2764,7 @@
 {
     int i, len;
     int total = 1;
+    PyObject *hooks;
     PyObject *prog;
     PyObject *ret;
 
@@ -2802,12 +2801,15 @@
             CALLMETHOD(loader, "load", NULL);
     }
     CALLMETHOD(self, "loadFileProvides", NULL);
+    hooks = getHooks();
+    CALLMETHOD(hooks, "call", "sO", "cache-loaded-pre-link", self);
     PyDict_Clear(self->_objmap);
     CALLMETHOD(self, "linkDeps", NULL);
     CALLMETHOD(prog, "setDone", NULL);
     CALLMETHOD(prog, "show", NULL);
     CALLMETHOD(prog, "stop", NULL);
     Py_DECREF(prog);
+    CALLMETHOD(hooks, "call", "sO", "cache-loaded", self);
     Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
 
diff -Naur smart-0.51/tests/load-hooks.txt smart-0.51.tpg/tests/load-hooks.txt
--- smart-0.51/tests/load-hooks.txt	1970-01-01 00:00:00.000000000 +0000
+++ smart-0.51.tpg/tests/load-hooks.txt	2007-08-28 09:08:05.000000000 +0000
@@ -0,0 +1,85 @@
+
+In that test we'll add a couple of hooks that should be called by the
+cache when loading packages.
+
+We want everything from the cache.
+
+  >>> from smart.cache import *
+
+  >>> class TestPackage(Package): pass
+  >>> class TestProvides(Provides): pass
+  >>> class TestDepends(Depends):
+  ...   def matches(self, prv):
+  ...     return prv.name == self.name and prv.version == self.version
+  >>> class TestUpgrades(Requires, TestDepends): pass
+
+  >>> class TestLoader(Loader):
+  ...     def load(self):
+  ...         pkg1 = self.buildPackage(
+  ...             (TestPackage, "name1", "version1"),
+  ...             [(TestProvides, "name1", "version1")], [], [], [])
+  ...         pkg1.loaders[self] = 1
+  ...         pkg2 = self.buildPackage(
+  ...             (TestPackage, "name2", "version2"),
+  ...             [], [], [], [])
+  ...         pkg2.loaders[self] = 2
+
+
+Then, we create an instance of it.
+
+  >>> loader = TestLoader()
+
+
+We'll also create a cache, to include the loader into.
+
+  >>> cache = Cache()
+  >>> cache.addLoader(loader)
+
+
+Now we create our hooks, and plug them into the specific places.
+
+The first hook will add an artificial upgrades relation between
+package name2 and name1.
+
+  >>> verify_data = []
+
+  >>> def add_upgrade(cache):
+  ...     # First, check the current state.
+  ...     pkg1 = cache.getPackages("name1")[0]
+  ...     verify_data.append(pkg1.provides[0].upgradedby)
+  ...
+  ...     # Then, stick an artificial upgrades relation.
+  ...     upg = TestUpgrades("name1", "=", "version1")
+  ...     cache._upgrades.append(upg)
+  ...     pkg2 = cache.getPackages("name2")[0]
+  ...     pkg2.upgrades += (upg,)
+
+
+Our second hook will just verify that the relation has been linked.
+
+  >>> def check_upgrade(cache):
+  ...     pkg1 = cache.getPackages("name1")[0]
+  ...     verify_data.append(pkg1.provides[0].upgradedby)
+
+
+Let's link them effectively.
+
+  >>> hooks.register("cache-loaded-pre-link", add_upgrade)
+  >>> hooks.register("cache-loaded", check_upgrade)
+
+
+Loading the cache should run these hooks.
+
+  >>> cache.load()
+  Updating cache...               ######################################## [100%]
+  <BLANKLINE>
+
+
+Let's see if our hooks got called correctly.
+
+  >>> import pprint
+  >>> pprint.pprint(verify_data)
+  [(), [name1 = version1]]
+
+
+vim:ft=doctest