can't set attribute python_python can't set attributes of built-in/extension type 'object'

I am not sure at the moment at the actual "design" reasoning for this, though there are - but the fact is that object, as some other built-in classes are written in native code (called "built-in") -

Due to the nature these built-in classes are made (their code is usually in C), they do not have a __dict__ attribute themselves, and thus, disallow arbitrary parameter setting.

Function objects had a __dict__ attribute implemented somewhere along the 2.x development cycle, so they can hold arbitrary attributes.

The way to go if you need something that works as an "object" but have arbitrary attributes is to subclass object, and add your attributes there:

class MyObj(object): pass

MyObj.lst = lambda o: list(o)