Merging upstream version 0.15.0.

Signed-off-by: Daniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>

13 files changed, 143 insertions, 203 deletions

diff --git a/qa/base.py b/qa/base.py
index f9e520a..acb921d 100644
--- a/qa/base.py
+++ b/qa/base.py
@@ -10,18 +10,13 @@ import sys
 import tempfile
 from datetime import datetime
 from uuid import uuid4
+from unittest import TestCase
 
 import arrow
 
-try:
-    # python 2.x
-    from unittest2 import TestCase
-except ImportError:
-    # python 3.x
-    from unittest import TestCase
 
 from qa.shell import git, gitlint, RunningCommand
-from qa.utils import DEFAULT_ENCODING, ustr
+from qa.utils import DEFAULT_ENCODING
 
 
 class BaseTestCase(TestCase):
@@ -56,13 +51,14 @@ class BaseTestCase(TestCase):
 
     def assertEqualStdout(self, output, expected):  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
         self.assertIsInstance(output, RunningCommand)
-        output = ustr(output.stdout)
+        output = output.stdout.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
         output = output.replace('\r', '')
         self.assertMultiLineEqual(output, expected)
 
     @classmethod
     def generate_temp_path(cls):
-        return os.path.realpath("/tmp/gitlint-test-{0}".format(datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S-%f")))
+        timestamp = datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d-%H%M%S-%f")
+        return os.path.realpath(f"/tmp/gitlint-test-{timestamp}")
 
     @classmethod
     def create_tmp_git_repo(cls):
@@ -89,7 +85,7 @@ class BaseTestCase(TestCase):
     @staticmethod
     def create_file(parent_dir):
         """ Creates a file inside a passed directory. Returns filename."""
-        test_filename = u"test-fïle-" + str(uuid4())
+        test_filename = "test-fïle-" + str(uuid4())
         io.open(os.path.join(parent_dir, test_filename), 'a', encoding=DEFAULT_ENCODING).close()
         return test_filename
 
@@ -171,8 +167,8 @@ class BaseTestCase(TestCase):
     @staticmethod
     def get_system_info_dict():
         """ Returns a dict with items related to system values logged by `gitlint --debug` """
-        expected_gitlint_version = gitlint("--version").replace("gitlint, version ", "").replace("\n", "")
-        expected_git_version = git("--version").replace("\n", "")
+        expected_gitlint_version = gitlint("--version").replace("gitlint, version ", "").strip()
+        expected_git_version = git("--version").strip()
         return {'platform': platform.platform(), 'python_version': sys.version,
                 'git_version': expected_git_version, 'gitlint_version': expected_gitlint_version,
                 'GITLINT_USE_SH_LIB': BaseTestCase.GITLINT_USE_SH_LIB, 'DEFAULT_ENCODING': DEFAULT_ENCODING}
diff --git a/qa/requirements.txt b/qa/requirements.txt
index f042dad..32f4662 100644
--- a/qa/requirements.txt
+++ b/qa/requirements.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-sh==1.12.14
-pytest==4.6.3;
-arrow==0.15.5;
+sh==1.14.1
+pytest==6.1.2;
+arrow==0.17.0;
 gitlint # no version as you want to test the currently installed version
diff --git a/qa/samples/user_rules/extra/extra_rules.py b/qa/samples/user_rules/extra/extra_rules.py
index 6fb985f..9a0ae6d 100644
--- a/qa/samples/user_rules/extra/extra_rules.py
+++ b/qa/samples/user_rules/extra/extra_rules.py
@@ -2,18 +2,17 @@
 
 from gitlint.rules import CommitRule, RuleViolation, ConfigurationRule
 from gitlint.options import IntOption, StrOption, ListOption
-from gitlint.utils import sstr
 
 
 class GitContextRule(CommitRule):
     """ Rule that tests whether we can correctly access certain gitcontext properties """
-    name = u"gïtcontext"
+    name = "gïtcontext"
     id = "UC1"
 
     def validate(self, commit):
         violations = [
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"GitContext.current_branch: {0}".format(commit.context.current_branch), line_nr=1),
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"GitContext.commentchar: {0}".format(commit.context.commentchar), line_nr=1)
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"GitContext.current_branch: {commit.context.current_branch}", line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"GitContext.commentchar: {commit.context.commentchar}", line_nr=1)
         ]
 
         return violations
@@ -21,13 +20,13 @@ class GitContextRule(CommitRule):
 
 class GitCommitRule(CommitRule):
     """ Rule that tests whether we can correctly access certain commit properties """
-    name = u"gïtcommit"
+    name = "gïtcommit"
     id = "UC2"
 
     def validate(self, commit):
         violations = [
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"GitCommit.branches: {0}".format(sstr(commit.branches)), line_nr=1),
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"GitCommit.custom_prop: {0}".format(commit.custom_prop), line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"GitCommit.branches: {commit.branches}", line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"GitCommit.custom_prop: {commit.custom_prop}", line_nr=1),
         ]
 
         return violations
@@ -35,16 +34,16 @@ class GitCommitRule(CommitRule):
 
 class GitlintConfigurationRule(ConfigurationRule):
     """ Rule that tests whether we can correctly access the config as well as modify the commit message """
-    name = u"cönfigrule"
+    name = "cönfigrule"
     id = "UC3"
 
     def apply(self, config, commit):
         # We add a line to the commit message body that pulls a value from config, this proves we can modify the body
         # and read the config contents
-        commit.message.body.append("{0} ".format(config.target))  # trailing whitespace deliberate to trigger violation
+        commit.message.body.append(f"{config.target} ")  # trailing whitespace deliberate to trigger violation
 
         # We set a custom property that we access in CommitRule, to prove we can add extra properties to the commit
-        commit.custom_prop = u"foöbar"
+        commit.custom_prop = "foöbar"
 
         # We also ignore some extra rules, proving that we can modify the config
         config.ignore.append("B4")
@@ -52,18 +51,18 @@ class GitlintConfigurationRule(ConfigurationRule):
 
 class ConfigurableCommitRule(CommitRule):
     """ Rule that tests that we can add configuration to user-defined rules """
-    name = u"configürable"
+    name = "configürable"
     id = "UC4"
 
-    options_spec = [IntOption(u"int-öption", 2, u"int-öption description"),
-                    StrOption(u"str-öption", u"föo", u"int-öption description"),
-                    ListOption(u"list-öption", [u"foo", u"bar"], u"list-öption description")]
+    options_spec = [IntOption("int-öption", 2, "int-öption description"),
+                    StrOption("str-öption", "föo", "int-öption description"),
+                    ListOption("list-öption", ["foo", "bar"], "list-öption description")]
 
     def validate(self, _):
         violations = [
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"int-öption: {0}".format(self.options[u'int-öption'].value), line_nr=1),
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"str-öption: {0}".format(self.options[u'str-öption'].value), line_nr=1),
-            RuleViolation(self.id, u"list-öption: {0}".format(sstr(self.options[u'list-öption'].value)), line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"int-öption: {self.options[u'int-öption'].value}", line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"str-öption: {self.options[u'str-öption'].value}", line_nr=1),
+            RuleViolation(self.id, f"list-öption: {self.options[u'list-öption'].value}", line_nr=1),
         ]
 
         return violations
diff --git a/qa/shell.py b/qa/shell.py
index 43e5bbd..97dcd2c 100644
--- a/qa/shell.py
+++ b/qa/shell.py
@@ -3,10 +3,11 @@
 # on gitlint internals for our integration testing framework.
 
 import subprocess
-from qa.utils import ustr, USE_SH_LIB, IS_PY2
+from qa.utils import USE_SH_LIB, DEFAULT_ENCODING
 
 if USE_SH_LIB:
     from sh import git, echo, gitlint  # pylint: disable=unused-import,no-name-in-module,import-error
+    gitlint = gitlint.bake(_unify_ttys=True, _tty_in=True)  # pylint: disable=invalid-name
 
     # import exceptions separately, this makes it a little easier to mock them out in the unit tests
     from sh import CommandNotFound, ErrorReturnCode, RunningCommand  # pylint: disable=import-error
@@ -16,7 +17,7 @@ else:
         """ Exception indicating a command was not found during execution """
         pass
 
-    class RunningCommand(object):
+    class RunningCommand:
         pass
 
     class ShResult(RunningCommand):
@@ -27,7 +28,7 @@ else:
             self.full_cmd = full_cmd
             # TODO(jorisroovers): The 'sh' library by default will merge stdout and stderr. We mimic this behavior
             # for now until we fully remove the 'sh' library.
-            self.stdout = stdout + ustr(stderr)
+            self.stdout = stdout + stderr.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
             self.stderr = stderr
             self.exit_code = exitcode
 
@@ -55,14 +56,9 @@ else:
         # a non-zero exit code -> just return the entire result
         if hasattr(result, 'exit_code') and result.exit_code > 0:
             return result
-        return ustr(result)
+        return str(result)
 
     def _exec(*args, **kwargs):
-        if IS_PY2:
-            no_command_error = OSError  # noqa pylint: disable=undefined-variable,invalid-name
-        else:
-            no_command_error = FileNotFoundError  # noqa pylint: disable=undefined-variable
-
         pipe = subprocess.PIPE
         popen_kwargs = {'stdout': pipe, 'stderr': pipe, 'shell': kwargs.get('_tty_out', False)}
         if '_cwd' in kwargs:
@@ -73,11 +69,11 @@ else:
         try:
             p = subprocess.Popen(args, **popen_kwargs)
             result = p.communicate()
-        except no_command_error:
-            raise CommandNotFound
+        except FileNotFoundError as exc:
+            raise CommandNotFound from exc
 
         exit_code = p.returncode
-        stdout = ustr(result[0])
+        stdout = result[0].decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
         stderr = result[1]  # 'sh' does not decode the stderr bytes to unicode
         full_cmd = '' if args is None else ' '.join(args)
 
diff --git a/qa/test_commits.py b/qa/test_commits.py
index f485856..389ad66 100644
--- a/qa/test_commits.py
+++ b/qa/test_commits.py
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import arrow
 
 from qa.shell import echo, git, gitlint
 from qa.base import BaseTestCase
-from qa.utils import sstr
 
 
 class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
@@ -16,10 +15,10 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_successful(self):
         """ Test linting multiple commits without violations """
         git("checkout", "-b", "test-branch-commits-base", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit")
         git("checkout", "-b", "test-branch-commits", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title2\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit2")
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title3\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit3")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title2\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit2")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title3\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit3")
         output = gitlint("--commits", "test-branch-commits-base...test-branch-commits",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True)
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, "")
@@ -27,12 +26,12 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_violations(self):
         """ Test linting multiple commits with violations """
         git("checkout", "-b", "test-branch-commits-violations-base", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n")
         git("checkout", "-b", "test-branch-commits-violations", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title2.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title2.\n")
         commit_sha1 = self.get_last_commit_hash()[:10]
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title3.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title3.\n")
         commit_sha2 = self.get_last_commit_hash()[:10]
         output = gitlint("--commits", "test-branch-commits-violations-base...test-branch-commits-violations",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[4])
@@ -43,14 +42,14 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_lint_single_commit(self):
         """ Tests `gitlint --commits <sha>` """
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n")
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title2.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title2.\n")
         commit_sha = self.get_last_commit_hash()
-        refspec = "{0}^...{0}".format(commit_sha)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title3.\n")
+        refspec = f"{commit_sha}^...{commit_sha}"
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title3.\n")
         output = gitlint("--commits", refspec, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[2])
-        expected = (u"1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"Sïmple title2.\"\n" +
-                    u"3: B6 Body message is missing\n")
+        expected = ("1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"Sïmple title2.\"\n" +
+                    "3: B6 Body message is missing\n")
         self.assertEqual(output.exit_code, 2)
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
@@ -61,7 +60,7 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
             echo "WIP: Pïpe test." | gitlint --staged --debug
         """
         # Create a commit first, before we stage changes. This ensures the repo is properly initialized.
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n")
 
         # Add some files, stage them: they should show up in the debug output as changed file
         filename1 = self.create_file(self.tmp_git_repo)
@@ -69,12 +68,12 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
         filename2 = self.create_file(self.tmp_git_repo)
         git("add", filename2, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
-        output = gitlint(echo(u"WIP: Pïpe test."), "--staged", "--debug",
+        output = gitlint(echo("WIP: Pïpe test."), "--staged", "--debug",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=False, _err_to_out=True, _ok_code=[3])
 
         # Determine variable parts of expected output
         expected_kwargs = self.get_debug_vars_last_commit()
-        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': sstr(sorted([filename1, filename2]))})
+        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': sorted([filename1, filename2])})
 
         # It's not really possible to determine the "Date: ..." line that is part of the debug output as this date
         # is not taken from git but instead generated by gitlint itself. As a workaround, we extract the date from the
@@ -95,7 +94,7 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
             gitlint --msg-filename /tmp/my-commit-msg --staged --debug
         """
         # Create a commit first, before we stage changes. This ensures the repo is properly initialized.
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n")
 
         # Add some files, stage them: they should show up in the debug output as changed file
         filename1 = self.create_file(self.tmp_git_repo)
@@ -103,14 +102,14 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
         filename2 = self.create_file(self.tmp_git_repo)
         git("add", filename2, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: from fïle test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: from fïle test.")
 
         output = gitlint("--msg-filename", tmp_commit_msg_file, "--staged", "--debug",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=False, _err_to_out=True, _ok_code=[3])
 
         # Determine variable parts of expected output
         expected_kwargs = self.get_debug_vars_last_commit()
-        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': sstr(sorted([filename1, filename2]))})
+        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': sorted([filename1, filename2])})
 
         # It's not really possible to determine the "Date: ..." line that is part of the debug output as this date
         # is not taken from git but instead generated by gitlint itself. As a workaround, we extract the date from the
@@ -128,9 +127,9 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_lint_head(self):
         """ Testing whether we can also recognize special refs like 'HEAD' """
         tmp_git_repo = self.create_tmp_git_repo()
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP: Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
         output = gitlint("--commits", "HEAD", _cwd=tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[3])
         revlist = git("rev-list", "HEAD", _tty_in=True, _cwd=tmp_git_repo).split()
 
@@ -143,14 +142,14 @@ class CommitsTests(BaseTestCase):
         """ Tests multiple commits of which some rules get igonored because of ignore-* rules """
         # Create repo and some commits
         tmp_git_repo = self.create_tmp_git_repo()
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
         # Normally, this commit will give T3 (trailing-punctuation), T5 (WIP) and B5 (bod-too-short) violations
         # But in this case only B5 because T3 and T5 are being ignored because of config
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Release: WIP tïtle.\n\nShort", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Release: WIP tïtle.\n\nShort", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
         # In the following 2 commits, the T3 violations are as normal
         self.create_simple_commit(
-            u"Sïmple WIP title3.\n\nThis is \ta relëase commit\nMore info", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title4.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit4", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+            "Sïmple WIP title3.\n\nThis is \ta relëase commit\nMore info", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title4.\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit4", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
         revlist = git("rev-list", "HEAD", _tty_in=True, _cwd=tmp_git_repo).split()
 
         config_path = self.get_sample_path("config/ignore-release-commits")
diff --git a/qa/test_config.py b/qa/test_config.py
index 9415990..9c00b95 100644
--- a/qa/test_config.py
+++ b/qa/test_config.py
@@ -5,30 +5,30 @@ import re
 
 from qa.shell import gitlint
 from qa.base import BaseTestCase
-from qa.utils import sstr, ustr
+from qa.utils import DEFAULT_ENCODING
 
 
 class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
     """ Integration tests for gitlint configuration and configuration precedence. """
 
     def test_ignore_by_id(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
         output = gitlint("--ignore", "T5,B4", _tty_in=True, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _ok_code=[1])
-        expected = u"1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"WIP: Thïs is a title.\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"WIP: Thïs is a title.\"\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_ignore_by_name(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
         output = gitlint("--ignore", "title-must-not-contain-word,body-first-line-empty",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[1])
-        expected = u"1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"WIP: Thïs is a title.\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T3 Title has trailing punctuation (.): \"WIP: Thïs is a title.\"\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_verbosity(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP: Thïs is a title.\nContënt on the second line")
         output = gitlint("-v", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[3])
 
-        expected = u"1: T3\n1: T5\n2: B4\n"
+        expected = "1: T3\n1: T5\n2: B4\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
         output = gitlint("-vv", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[3])
@@ -42,12 +42,12 @@ class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, "")
 
     def test_set_rule_option(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"This ïs a title.")
+        self.create_simple_commit("This ïs a title.")
         output = gitlint("-c", "title-max-length.line-length=5", _tty_in=True, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _ok_code=[3])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_config/test_set_rule_option_1"))
 
     def test_config_from_file(self):
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
+        commit_msg = "WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
                      "This line of the body is here because we need it"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         config_path = self.get_sample_path("config/gitlintconfig")
@@ -58,14 +58,14 @@ class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
         # Test both on existing and new repo (we've had a bug in the past that was unique to empty repos)
         repos = [self.tmp_git_repo, self.create_tmp_git_repo()]
         for target_repo in repos:
-            commit_msg = u"WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
+            commit_msg = "WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
                         "This line of the body is here because we need it"
             filename = self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg, git_repo=target_repo)
             config_path = self.get_sample_path("config/gitlintconfig")
             output = gitlint("--config", config_path, "--debug", _cwd=target_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[5])
 
             expected_kwargs = self.get_debug_vars_last_commit(git_repo=target_repo)
-            expected_kwargs.update({'config_path': config_path, 'changed_files': sstr([filename])})
+            expected_kwargs.update({'config_path': config_path, 'changed_files': [filename]})
             self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_config/test_config_from_file_debug_1",
                                                              expected_kwargs))
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
         # We invoke gitlint, configuring it via env variables, we can check whether gitlint picks these up correctly
         # by comparing the debug output with what we'd expect
         target_repo = self.create_tmp_git_repo()
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
+        commit_msg = "WIP: Thïs is a title thåt is a bit longer.\nContent on the second line\n" + \
                      "This line of the body is here because we need it"
         filename = self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg, git_repo=target_repo)
         env = self.create_environment({"GITLINT_DEBUG": "1", "GITLINT_VERBOSITY": "2",
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
                                        "GITLINT_COMMITS": self.get_last_commit_hash(git_repo=target_repo)})
         output = gitlint(_env=env, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[5])
         expected_kwargs = self.get_debug_vars_last_commit(git_repo=target_repo)
-        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': sstr([filename])})
+        expected_kwargs.update({'changed_files': [filename]})
 
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_config/test_config_from_env_1", expected_kwargs))
 
         # For some env variables, we need a separate test ast they are mutually exclusive with the ones tested above
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: msg-fïlename test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: msg-fïlename test.")
         env = self.create_environment({"GITLINT_DEBUG": "1", "GITLINT_TARGET": target_repo,
                                        "GITLINT_SILENT": "1", "GITLINT_STAGED": "1"})
 
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ class ConfigTests(BaseTestCase):
         # Extract date from actual output to insert it into the expected output
         # We have to do this since there's no way for us to deterministically know that date otherwise
         p = re.compile("Date: (.*)\n", re.UNICODE | re.MULTILINE)
-        result = p.search(ustr(output.stdout))
+        result = p.search(output.stdout.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING))
         date = result.group(1).strip()
         expected_kwargs.update({"date": date})
 
diff --git a/qa/test_contrib.py b/qa/test_contrib.py
index e2b4bc5..e599d50 100644
--- a/qa/test_contrib.py
+++ b/qa/test_contrib.py
@@ -8,19 +8,19 @@ class ContribRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
     """ Integration tests for contrib rules."""
 
     def test_contrib_rules(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP Thi$ is å title\n\nMy bödy that is a bit longer than 20 chars")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP Thi$ is å title\n\nMy bödy that is a bit longer than 20 chars")
         output = gitlint("--contrib", "contrib-title-conventional-commits,CC1",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[4])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_contrib/test_contrib_rules_1"))
 
     def test_contrib_rules_with_config(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP Thi$ is å title\n\nMy bödy that is a bit longer than 20 chars")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP Thi$ is å title\n\nMy bödy that is a bit longer than 20 chars")
         output = gitlint("--contrib", "contrib-title-conventional-commits,CC1",
-                         "-c", u"contrib-title-conventional-commits.types=föo,bår",
+                         "-c", "contrib-title-conventional-commits.types=föo,bår",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[4])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_contrib/test_contrib_rules_with_config_1"))
 
     def test_invalid_contrib_rules(self):
         self.create_simple_commit("WIP: test")
-        output = gitlint("--contrib", u"föobar,CC1", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[255])
-        self.assertEqualStdout(output, u"Config Error: No contrib rule with id or name 'föobar' found.\n")
+        output = gitlint("--contrib", "föobar,CC1", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[255])
+        self.assertEqualStdout(output, "Config Error: No contrib rule with id or name 'föobar' found.\n")
diff --git a/qa/test_gitlint.py b/qa/test_gitlint.py
index 2e837b9..0200d76 100644
--- a/qa/test_gitlint.py
+++ b/qa/test_gitlint.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_successful(self):
         # Test for STDIN with and without a TTY attached
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit")
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _err_to_out=True)
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, "")
 
@@ -22,26 +22,26 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
 
         # Different commentchar (Note: tried setting this to a special unicode char, but git doesn't like that)
         git("config", "--add", "core.commentchar", "$", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit\n$after commentchar\t ignored")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Sïmple title\n\nSimple bödy describing the commit\n$after commentchar\t ignored")
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _err_to_out=True)
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, "")
 
     def test_successful_merge_commit(self):
         # Create branch on master
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Cömmit on master\n\nSimple bödy")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Cömmit on master\n\nSimple bödy")
 
         # Create test branch, add a commit and determine the commit hash
         git("checkout", "-b", "test-branch", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
         git("checkout", "test-branch", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        commit_title = u"Commit on test-brånch with a pretty long title that will cause issues when merging"
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"{0}\n\nSïmple body".format(commit_title))
+        commit_title = "Commit on test-brånch with a pretty long title that will cause issues when merging"
+        self.create_simple_commit(f"{commit_title}\n\nSïmple body")
         hash = self.get_last_commit_hash()
 
         # Checkout master and merge the commit
         # We explicitly set the title of the merge commit to the title of the previous commit as this or similar
         # behavior is what many tools do that handle merges (like github, gerrit, etc).
         git("checkout", "master", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        git("merge", "--no-ff", "-m", u"Merge '{0}'".format(commit_title), hash, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
+        git("merge", "--no-ff", "-m", f"Merge '{commit_title}'", hash, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
         # Run gitlint and assert output is empty
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True)
@@ -50,14 +50,13 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
         # Assert that we do see the error if we disable the ignore-merge-commits option
         output = gitlint("-c", "general.ignore-merge-commits=false", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[1])
         self.assertEqual(output.exit_code, 1)
-        self.assertEqualStdout(output,
-                               u"1: T1 Title exceeds max length (90>72): \"Merge '{0}'\"\n".format(commit_title))
+        self.assertEqualStdout(output, f"1: T1 Title exceeds max length (90>72): \"Merge '{commit_title}'\"\n")
 
     def test_fixup_commit(self):
         # Create a normal commit and assert that it has a violation
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"Cömmit on WIP master\n\nSimple bödy that is long enough")
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("Cömmit on WIP master\n\nSimple bödy that is long enough")
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[1])
-        expected = u"1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Cömmit on WIP master\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Cömmit on WIP master\"\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
         # Make a small modification to the commit and commit it using fixup commit
@@ -66,7 +65,7 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
             # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22392377/
             # error-writing-a-file-with-file-write-in-python-unicodeencodeerror
             # So just keeping it simple - ASCII will here
-            fh.write(u"Appending some stuff\n")
+            fh.write("Appending some stuff\n")
 
         git("add", test_filename, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
@@ -79,13 +78,13 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
 
         # Make sure that if we set the ignore-fixup-commits option to false that we do still see the violations
         output = gitlint("-c", "general.ignore-fixup-commits=false", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[2])
-        expected = u"1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"fixup! Cömmit on WIP master\"\n" + \
-            u"3: B6 Body message is missing\n"
+        expected = "1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"fixup! Cömmit on WIP master\"\n" + \
+            "3: B6 Body message is missing\n"
 
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_revert_commit(self):
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: Cömmit on master.\n\nSimple bödy")
+        self.create_simple_commit("WIP: Cömmit on master.\n\nSimple bödy")
         hash = self.get_last_commit_hash()
         git("revert", hash, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
@@ -97,14 +96,14 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
         output = gitlint("-c", "general.ignore-revert-commits=false",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[1])
         self.assertEqual(output.exit_code, 1)
-        expected = u"1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Revert \"WIP: Cömmit on master.\"\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Revert \"WIP: Cömmit on master.\"\"\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_squash_commit(self):
         # Create a normal commit and assert that it has a violation
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"Cömmit on WIP master\n\nSimple bödy that is long enough")
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("Cömmit on WIP master\n\nSimple bödy that is long enough")
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[1])
-        expected = u"1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Cömmit on WIP master\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"Cömmit on WIP master\"\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
         # Make a small modification to the commit and commit it using squash commit
@@ -113,11 +112,11 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
             # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/22392377/
             # error-writing-a-file-with-file-write-in-python-unicodeencodeerror
             # So just keeping it simple - ASCII will here
-            fh.write(u"Appending some stuff\n")
+            fh.write("Appending some stuff\n")
 
         git("add", test_filename, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
-        git("commit", "--squash", self.get_last_commit_hash(), "-m", u"Töo short body", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
+        git("commit", "--squash", self.get_last_commit_hash(), "-m", "Töo short body", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
         # Assert that gitlint does not show an error for the fixup commit
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True)
@@ -127,25 +126,25 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
         # Make sure that if we set the ignore-squash-commits option to false that we do still see the violations
         output = gitlint("-c", "general.ignore-squash-commits=false",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[2])
-        expected = u"1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"squash! Cömmit on WIP master\"\n" + \
-            u"3: B5 Body message is too short (14<20): \"Töo short body\"\n"
+        expected = "1: T5 Title contains the word 'WIP' (case-insensitive): \"squash! Cömmit on WIP master\"\n" + \
+            "3: B5 Body message is too short (14<20): \"Töo short body\"\n"
 
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_violations(self):
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: This ïs a title.\nContent on the sëcond line"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: This ïs a title.\nContent on the sëcond line"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         output = gitlint(_cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[3])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_gitlint/test_violations_1"))
 
     def test_msg_filename(self):
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: msg-fïlename test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: msg-fïlename test.")
         output = gitlint("--msg-filename", tmp_commit_msg_file, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[3])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_gitlint/test_msg_filename_1"))
 
     def test_msg_filename_no_tty(self):
         """ Make sure --msg-filename option also works with no TTY attached """
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: msg-fïlename NO TTY test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: msg-fïlename NO TTY test.")
 
         # We need to set _err_to_out explicitly for sh to merge stdout and stderr output in case there's
         # no TTY attached to STDIN
@@ -159,24 +158,24 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_no_git_name_set(self):
         """ Ensure we print out a helpful message if user.name is not set """
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: msg-fïlename NO name test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: msg-fïlename NO name test.")
         # Name is checked before email so this isn't strictly
         # necessary but seems good for consistency.
-        env = self.create_tmp_git_config(u"[user]\n  email = test-emåil@foo.com\n")
+        env = self.create_tmp_git_config("[user]\n  email = test-emåil@foo.com\n")
         output = gitlint("--staged", "--msg-filename", tmp_commit_msg_file,
                          _ok_code=[self.GIT_CONTEXT_ERROR_CODE],
                          _env=env)
-        expected = u"Missing git configuration: please set user.name\n"
+        expected = "Missing git configuration: please set user.name\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_no_git_email_set(self):
         """ Ensure we print out a helpful message if user.email is not set """
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: msg-fïlename NO email test.")
-        env = self.create_tmp_git_config(u"[user]\n  name = test åuthor\n")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: msg-fïlename NO email test.")
+        env = self.create_tmp_git_config("[user]\n  name = test åuthor\n")
         output = gitlint("--staged", "--msg-filename", tmp_commit_msg_file,
                          _ok_code=[self.GIT_CONTEXT_ERROR_CODE],
                          _env=env)
-        expected = u"Missing git configuration: please set user.email\n"
+        expected = "Missing git configuration: please set user.email\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
     def test_git_errors(self):
@@ -184,10 +183,10 @@ class IntegrationTests(BaseTestCase):
         empty_git_repo = self.create_tmp_git_repo()
         output = gitlint(_cwd=empty_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[self.GIT_CONTEXT_ERROR_CODE])
 
-        expected = u"Current branch has no commits. Gitlint requires at least one commit to function.\n"
+        expected = "Current branch has no commits. Gitlint requires at least one commit to function.\n"
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
 
         # Repo has no commits: caused by `git rev-parse`
-        output = gitlint(echo(u"WIP: Pïpe test."), "--staged", _cwd=empty_git_repo, _tty_in=False,
+        output = gitlint(echo("WIP: Pïpe test."), "--staged", _cwd=empty_git_repo, _tty_in=False,
                          _err_to_out=True, _ok_code=[self.GIT_CONTEXT_ERROR_CODE])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, expected)
diff --git a/qa/test_hooks.py b/qa/test_hooks.py
index 7c07a61..80ccbf6 100644
--- a/qa/test_hooks.py
+++ b/qa/test_hooks.py
@@ -24,18 +24,18 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
         # The '--staged' flag used in the commit-msg hook fetches additional information from the underlying
         # git repo which means there already needs to be a commit in the repo
         # (as gitlint --staged doesn't work against empty repos)
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Commït Title\n\nCommit Body explaining commit.")
+        self.create_simple_commit("Commït Title\n\nCommit Body explaining commit.")
 
         # install git commit-msg hook and assert output
         output_installed = gitlint("install-hook", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        expected_installed = u"Successfully installed gitlint commit-msg hook in %s/.git/hooks/commit-msg\n" % \
+        expected_installed = "Successfully installed gitlint commit-msg hook in %s/.git/hooks/commit-msg\n" % \
                              self.tmp_git_repo
         self.assertEqualStdout(output_installed, expected_installed)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         # uninstall git commit-msg hook and assert output
         output_uninstalled = gitlint("uninstall-hook", _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
-        expected_uninstalled = u"Successfully uninstalled gitlint commit-msg hook from %s/.git/hooks/commit-msg\n" % \
+        expected_uninstalled = "Successfully uninstalled gitlint commit-msg hook from %s/.git/hooks/commit-msg\n" % \
                                self.tmp_git_repo
         self.assertEqualStdout(output_uninstalled, expected_uninstalled)
 
@@ -50,24 +50,24 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
         # Answer 'yes' to question to keep violating commit-msg
         if "Your commit message contains the above violations" in line:
             response = self.responses[self.response_index]
-            stdin.put("{0}\n".format(response))
+            stdin.put(f"{response}\n")
             self.response_index = (self.response_index + 1) % len(self.responses)
 
     def test_commit_hook_no_violations(self):
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"This ïs a title\n\nBody contënt that should work",
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("This ïs a title\n\nBody contënt that should work",
                                                   out=self._interact, tty_in=True)
 
         short_hash = self.get_last_commit_short_hash()
         expected_output = ["gitlint: checking commit message...\n",
                            "gitlint: \x1b[32mOK\x1b[0m (no violations in commit message)\n",
-                           u"[master %s] This ïs a title\n" % short_hash,
+                           "[master %s] This ïs a title\n" % short_hash,
                            " 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)\n",
-                           u" create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
+                           " create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
         self.assertListEqual(expected_output, self.githook_output)
 
     def test_commit_hook_continue(self):
         self.responses = ["y"]
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
                                                   out=self._interact, tty_in=True)
 
         # Determine short commit-msg hash, needed to determine expected output
@@ -76,10 +76,10 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
         expected_output = self._violations()
         expected_output += ["Continue with commit anyways (this keeps the current commit message)? " +
                             "[y(es)/n(no)/e(dit)] " +
-                            u"[master %s] WIP: This ïs a title. Contënt on the second line\n"
+                            "[master %s] WIP: This ïs a title. Contënt on the second line\n"
                             % short_hash,
                             " 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)\n",
-                            u" create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
+                            " create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
 
         assert len(self.githook_output) == len(expected_output)
         for output, expected in zip(self.githook_output, expected_output):
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_commit_hook_abort(self):
         self.responses = ["n"]
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
                                                   out=self._interact, ok_code=1, tty_in=True)
         git("rm", "-f", test_filename, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
@@ -101,8 +101,8 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
                             "Commit aborted.\n",
                             "Your commit message: \n",
                             "-----------------------------------------------\n",
-                            u"WIP: This ïs a title.\n",
-                            u"Contënt on the second line\n",
+                            "WIP: This ïs a title.\n",
+                            "Contënt on the second line\n",
                             "-----------------------------------------------\n"]
 
         self.assertListEqual(expected_output, self.githook_output)
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_commit_hook_edit(self):
         self.responses = ["e", "y"]
         env = {"EDITOR": ":"}
-        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit(u"WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
+        test_filename = self.create_simple_commit("WIP: This ïs a title.\nContënt on the second line",
                                                   out=self._interact, env=env, tty_in=True)
         git("rm", "-f", test_filename, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo)
 
@@ -124,9 +124,9 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
         expected_output += self._violations()[1:]
         expected_output += ['Continue with commit anyways (this keeps the current commit message)? ' +
                             "[y(es)/n(no)/e(dit)] " +
-                            u"[master %s] WIP: This ïs a title. Contënt on the second line\n" % short_hash,
+                            "[master %s] WIP: This ïs a title. Contënt on the second line\n" % short_hash,
                             " 1 file changed, 0 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)\n",
-                            u" create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
+                            " create mode 100644 %s\n" % test_filename]
 
         assert len(self.githook_output) == len(expected_output)
         for output, expected in zip(self.githook_output, expected_output):
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
             ```
         """
         tmp_git_repo = self.create_tmp_git_repo()
-        self.create_simple_commit(u"Simple title\n\nContënt in the body", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
+        self.create_simple_commit("Simple title\n\nContënt in the body", git_repo=tmp_git_repo)
 
         worktree_dir = self.generate_temp_path()
         self.tmp_git_repos.append(worktree_dir)  # make sure we clean up the worktree afterwards
@@ -156,10 +156,10 @@ class HookTests(BaseTestCase):
 
         output_installed = gitlint("install-hook", _cwd=worktree_dir)
         expected_hook_path = os.path.join(tmp_git_repo, ".git", "hooks", "commit-msg")
-        expected_msg = "Successfully installed gitlint commit-msg hook in {0}\n".format(expected_hook_path)
+        expected_msg = f"Successfully installed gitlint commit-msg hook in {expected_hook_path}\r\n"
         self.assertEqual(output_installed, expected_msg)
 
         output_uninstalled = gitlint("uninstall-hook", _cwd=worktree_dir)
         expected_hook_path = os.path.join(tmp_git_repo, ".git", "hooks", "commit-msg")
-        expected_msg = "Successfully uninstalled gitlint commit-msg hook from {0}\n".format(expected_hook_path)
+        expected_msg = f"Successfully uninstalled gitlint commit-msg hook from {expected_hook_path}\r\n"
         self.assertEqual(output_uninstalled, expected_msg)
diff --git a/qa/test_named_rules.py b/qa/test_named_rules.py
index 6020bbf..92e968b 100644
--- a/qa/test_named_rules.py
+++ b/qa/test_named_rules.py
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@ class NamedRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
     """ Integration tests for named rules."""
 
     def test_named_rule(self):
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: thåt dûr bår\n\nSïmple commit body"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: thåt dûr bår\n\nSïmple commit body"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         config_path = self.get_sample_path("config/named-rules")
         output = gitlint("--config", config_path, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[5])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_named_rules/test_named_rule_1"))
 
     def test_named_user_rule(self):
-        commit_msg = u"Normal cömmit title\n\nSïmple commit message body"
+        commit_msg = "Normal cömmit title\n\nSïmple commit message body"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         config_path = self.get_sample_path("config/named-user-rules")
         extra_path = self.get_sample_path("user_rules/extra")
diff --git a/qa/test_stdin.py b/qa/test_stdin.py
index fff636f..18d6e7e 100644
--- a/qa/test_stdin.py
+++ b/qa/test_stdin.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import io
 import subprocess
 from qa.shell import echo, gitlint
 from qa.base import BaseTestCase
-from qa.utils import ustr, DEFAULT_ENCODING
+from qa.utils import DEFAULT_ENCODING
 
 
 class StdInTests(BaseTestCase):
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class StdInTests(BaseTestCase):
         # NOTE: There is no use in testing this with _tty_in=True, because if you pipe something into a command
         # there never is a TTY connected to stdin (per definition). We're setting _tty_in=False here to be explicit
         # but note that this is always true when piping something into a command.
-        output = gitlint(echo(u"WIP: Pïpe test."),
+        output = gitlint(echo("WIP: Pïpe test."),
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=False, _err_to_out=True, _ok_code=[3])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_stdin/test_stdin_pipe_1"))
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ class StdInTests(BaseTestCase):
             This is the equivalent of doing:
             $ echo -n "" | gitlint
         """
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: This ïs a title.\nContent on the sëcond line"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: This ïs a title.\nContent on the sëcond line"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
 
         # We need to set _err_to_out explicitly for sh to merge stdout and stderr output in case there's
@@ -36,21 +36,21 @@ class StdInTests(BaseTestCase):
         # http://amoffat.github.io/sh/sections/special_arguments.html?highlight=_tty_in#err-to-out
         output = gitlint(echo("-n", ""), _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=False, _err_to_out=True, _ok_code=[3])
 
-        self.assertEqual(ustr(output), self.get_expected("test_stdin/test_stdin_pipe_empty_1"))
+        self.assertEqual(output, self.get_expected("test_stdin/test_stdin_pipe_empty_1"))
 
     def test_stdin_file(self):
         """ Test the scenario where STDIN is a regular file (stat.S_ISREG = True)
             This is the equivalent of doing:
             $ gitlint < myfile
         """
-        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile(u"WIP: STDIN ïs a file test.")
+        tmp_commit_msg_file = self.create_tmpfile("WIP: STDIN ïs a file test.")
 
         with io.open(tmp_commit_msg_file, encoding=DEFAULT_ENCODING) as file_handle:
 
             # We need to use subprocess.Popen() here instead of sh because when passing a file_handle to sh, it will
             # deal with reading the file itself instead of passing it on to gitlint as a STDIN. Since we're trying to
             # test for the condition where stat.S_ISREG == True that won't work for us here.
-            p = subprocess.Popen(u"gitlint", stdin=file_handle, cwd=self.tmp_git_repo,
+            p = subprocess.Popen("gitlint", stdin=file_handle, cwd=self.tmp_git_repo,
                                  stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
             output, _ = p.communicate()
-            self.assertEqual(ustr(output), self.get_expected("test_stdin/test_stdin_file_1"))
+            self.assertEqual(output.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING), self.get_expected("test_stdin/test_stdin_file_1"))
diff --git a/qa/test_user_defined.py b/qa/test_user_defined.py
index 566d0b2..378ab36 100644
--- a/qa/test_user_defined.py
+++ b/qa/test_user_defined.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class UserDefinedRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_user_defined_rules_examples1(self):
         """ Test the user defined rules in the top-level `examples/` directory """
         extra_path = self.get_example_path()
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         output = gitlint("--extra-path", extra_path, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[5])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_user_defined/test_user_defined_rules_examples_1"))
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ class UserDefinedRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_user_defined_rules_examples2(self):
         """ Test the user defined rules in the top-level `examples/` directory """
         extra_path = self.get_example_path()
-        commit_msg = u"Release: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line\n$This line is ignored \nThis isn't\t\n"
+        commit_msg = "Release: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line\n$This line is ignored \nThis isn't\t\n"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         output = gitlint("--extra-path", extra_path, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[4])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_user_defined/test_user_defined_rules_examples_2"))
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class UserDefinedRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
     def test_user_defined_rules_examples_with_config(self):
         """ Test the user defined rules in the top-level `examples/` directory """
         extra_path = self.get_example_path()
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         output = gitlint("--extra-path", extra_path, "-c", "body-max-line-count.max-line-count=1",
                          _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[6])
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ class UserDefinedRuleTests(BaseTestCase):
 
     def test_user_defined_rules_extra(self):
         extra_path = self.get_sample_path("user_rules/extra")
-        commit_msg = u"WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
+        commit_msg = "WIP: Thi$ is å title\nContent on the second line"
         self.create_simple_commit(commit_msg)
         output = gitlint("--extra-path", extra_path, _cwd=self.tmp_git_repo, _tty_in=True, _ok_code=[9])
         self.assertEqualStdout(output, self.get_expected("test_user_defined/test_user_defined_rules_extra_1",
diff --git a/qa/utils.py b/qa/utils.py
index f44917e..c75872b 100644
--- a/qa/utils.py
+++ b/qa/utils.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 # pylint: disable=bad-option-value,unidiomatic-typecheck,undefined-variable,no-else-return
 import platform
-import sys
 import os
 
 import locale
@@ -16,16 +15,6 @@ def platform_is_windows():
 PLATFORM_IS_WINDOWS = platform_is_windows()
 
 ########################################################################################################################
-# IS_PY2
-
-
-def is_py2():
-    return sys.version_info[0] == 2
-
-
-IS_PY2 = is_py2()
-
-########################################################################################################################
 # USE_SH_LIB
 # Determine whether to use the `sh` library
 # On windows we won't want to use the sh library since it's not supported - instead we'll use our own shell module.
@@ -71,41 +60,3 @@ def getpreferredencoding():
 
 
 DEFAULT_ENCODING = getpreferredencoding()
-
-########################################################################################################################
-# Unicode utility functions
-
-
-def ustr(obj):
-    """ Python 2 and 3 utility method that converts an obj to unicode in python 2 and to a str object in python 3"""
-    if IS_PY2:
-        # If we are getting a string, then do an explicit decode
-        # else, just call the unicode method of the object
-        if type(obj) in [str, basestring]:  # pragma: no cover # noqa
-            return unicode(obj, DEFAULT_ENCODING)  # pragma: no cover # noqa
-        else:
-            return unicode(obj)  # pragma: no cover # noqa
-    else:
-        if type(obj) in [bytes]:
-            return obj.decode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)
-        else:
-            return str(obj)
-
-
-def sstr(obj):
-    """ Python 2 and 3 utility method that converts an obj to a DEFAULT_ENCODING encoded string in python 2
-    and to unicode in python 3.
-    Especially useful for implementing __str__ methods in python 2: http://stackoverflow.com/a/1307210/381010"""
-    if IS_PY2:
-        # For lists and tuples in python2, remove unicode string representation characters.
-        # i.e. ensure lists are printed as ['a', 'b'] and not [u'a', u'b']
-        if type(obj) in [list]:
-            return [sstr(item) for item in obj] # pragma: no cover # noqa
-        elif type(obj) in [tuple]:
-            return tuple(sstr(item) for item in obj) # pragma: no cover # noqa
-
-        return unicode(obj).encode(DEFAULT_ENCODING)  # pragma: no cover # noqa
-    else:
-        return obj  # pragma: no cover
-
-########################################################################################################################