So, you need a declarative way of skipping tests depending on the
conditions, such as platform, availability of DB backend, Python
version etc. and also need to record a reason for users WHY a test
was skipped.

It seems to me like a job for "test skipping framework". I am not
deeply involved in that case, so I'd try to find some spec that
describes needed behavior in details and forward it to py.test devs.

And as for the subject of this ticket, I think we can try to move
py.test. Just don't forget to include argumentation for those who
will jump in later.