[docs] [issue23750] Clarify difference between os.system/subprocess.call in section "Replacing os.system()"

March 23, 2015

      New submission from Andreas Sommer:

Reading over the section "Replacing os.system()" (https://docs.python.org/2/library/subprocess.html#replacing-os-system), one might assume that the return value of os.system and subprocess.call are equivalent.

    status = os.system("mycmd" + " myarg")
    # becomes
    status = subprocess.call("mycmd" + " myarg", shell=True)

However, they are not. Example:

    import sys
    import os
    import subprocess

    print subprocess.call("false")
    print os.system("false")

gives 1 and 256, respectively. Maybe this could be rephrased for clarity, or a hint added.

----------
assignee: docs@python
components: Documentation
messages: 239028
nosy: Andreas Sommer, docs@python
priority: normal
severity: normal
status: open
title: Clarify difference between os.system/subprocess.call in section "Replacing os.system()"
type: enhancement

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Python tracker <report@bugs.python.org>
<http://bugs.python.org/issue23750>
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