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Thu Mar 22 22:34:46 CET 2007 · http://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2007-March/072284.html

Guido van Rossum wrote:
> On 3/22/07, Jon Ribbens <jon+python-dev at unequivocal.co.uk> wrote:
>   
>> "\"Martin v. Löwis\"" <martin at v.loewis.de> wrote:
>>     
>>>> And do we even need os.fork(), os.exec*(), os.spawn*()?
>>>>         
>>> I don't know about about *os*.fork; I surely like to have posix.fork.
>>> The posix module exposes many OS functions as-is. This has the
>>> advantage that their semantics are crystal-clear: they do whatever the
>>> system call does (which, ideally, is what POSIX specifies for it).
>>> So you can do systems programming in Python, and only need good
>>> knowledge of the underlying system calls (i.e. using Python as a
>>> better C).
>>>       
>> I definitely agree. Removing the POSIX system call mappings would make
>> Python less useful and general-purpose.
>>
>> Yes it's nice to have high-level utility functions like those in the
>> subprocess module, but I think it's very important for the low-level
>> functions to be there too when you need them.
>>     
>
> Sure. os.fork() and the os.exec*() family can stay. But os.spawn*(),
> that abomination invented by Microsoft? I also hear no opposition
> against killign os.system() and os.popen()

Except that 'os.system' is really easy to use and I use it rarely enough 
that I *always* have to RTFM for subprocess which makes you jump through 
a few more (albeit simple) hoops.

Additionally, AFAIK subprocess is still broken for py2exe'd applications 
which is a problem.

All the best,

Michael Foord

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[Python-Dev] deprecate commands.getstatus()