title: How can I transparently redirect a Python import?
body: <p>I'm looking for a way to emulate symlinks for Python imports. I'd like to be able to unzip the following folder structure in-place without duplicating files:</p>
  
  <pre><code>root
  ├─ python_lib
  │  └─ my_utils
  │     ├─ __init__.py
  │     └─ etc.py
  ├─ app1
  ├─ app2
  └─ app3
     ├─ lib
     │  ├─ __init__.py
     │  └─ my_utils.py
     └─ run.py
  </code></pre>
  
  <p><code>app3/run.py</code> contains this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>from lib.my_utils import etc
  
  etc.pancakes()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I'd like the code to use the <code>etc</code> located in <code>python_lib/my_utils/</code>. Is there anything I can put in <code>app3/lib/my_utils.py</code> so that Python >= 3.1 will transparently import the <code>python_lib/my_utils/</code> folder (using relative paths and <code>..</code>), and subpackages will also work?</p>