So what were your implementation thoughts about cache_set()?  It appears
that you did not mean for it to simply be a shortcut for doing
cache.set('my_qs', qs).  Could you please clarify this?

As far as cache correctness and the pre_save/post_save signals for
refreshing/invalidating the cache, there is sill the possibility of
objects in the database getting altered outside of the currently-running
django instance.  In this case, your cache won't be correct, even with
going through all the trouble of trying to keep it updated.  This is
where I think option (2) is the desired choice again, for simplicity and
explicitness.  Objects are cached until they timeout or until I
explicitly refresh them.  Thoughts?

Also, all this object caching seems to me like something that would tie
in nicely to the models themselves.  Maybe something similar to the
ModelAdmin class of newforms-admin.  Cache refreshing/invalidating
behavior could even be an option if it is implemented.

class Author:
     name = CharField()

class AuthorCacheOptions(cache.ModelOptions):
     # Cache Author objects?
     cache = True
     # How long to cache Author objects?
     seconds = 3600
     # Try to keep cached objects in sync with database?
     # If False, cached objects are not updated until they expire.
     sync = True

Now, Author query sets using .cache() would use the AuthorCacheOptions
by default when no parameters are passed.

Gary