Hey,
Sure enough, IDLE 1.0.3 came with Python 2.3, but the update did not fix my problem.
I found a entry in RedHat's bugzilla, "Inconsistent input from numeric pad when numlock off", bug 136600. I put one in on SourceForge (where Python bugs are tracked) under IDLE, "input from numeric pad always dropped when numlock off", # 1074333.
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=136600
https://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1074333&gr...
I am still coding Python on my Windows box.
Rick