[Python-Dev] Issue 13524: subprocess on Windows

[Brad Allen]

I tripped over this one trying to make one of our Python at work
Windows compatible. We had no idea that a magic 'SystemRoot'
environment variable would be required, and it was causing issues for
pyzmq.

It might be nice to reflect the findings of this email thread on the
subprocess documentation page:

http://docs.python.org/library/subprocess.html

Currently the docs mention this:

"Note If specified, env must provide any variables required for the
program to execute. On Windows, in order to run a side-by-side
assembly the specified env must include a valid SystemRoot."

How about rewording that to:

"Note If specified, env must provide any variables required for the
program to execute. On Windows, a valid SystemRoot environment
variable is required for some Python libraries such as the 'random'
module. Also, in order to run a side-by-side assembly the specified
env must include a valid SystemRoot."