shared mem & semaphores module

[Jeff Davis]

I found a module online by "INRIA" (I don't know who that is) that seems to 
wrap the C functions for shared memory management and semaphores.

http://gigue.peabody.jhu.edu/~mdboom/omi/source/shm_source/shm.html

My question is: are these functions included elsewhere? It seems logical 
that python would include them in the standard distribution, since those 
are a pretty important part of at least UNIX (although I know python isn't 
only for UNIX). If they don't, is there a reason other than cluttering the 
standard distribution?

Regards,
        Jeff