As Andrew Langmead has already discovered, the LinuxThreads issue with SIGSEGV was reported on the Python bug tracker almost a year ago (well, reported, but not diagnosed): SIGSEGV causes hung threads (Linux) http://www.python.org/sf/756924 Looks like: can't CNTRL-C when running os.system in a thread http://www.python.org/sf/756940 is related. python-dev'ers, do we have a release manager for 2.3.4 (I didn't see a resolution to the brouhaha at the end of March)? If so, is 2.3.4 still planned for this month? tick-tock-tick-tock-ing-ly y'rs - tim