Exploratory query

[Don Todd]

I'm a total python newbie and have not really even begun to learn.
Before I start, however, I would like to know if python is the proper
tool for what I want to do.

I want to query various MH mailboxes to see if they contain new mail.
There is a program, flist, that will do this, but it is a pain to run it
every time. I'd like something a la xbiff or gbiffy.

Would python allow me to run flist and use its output, or would I need
to re-write flist? The idea is to keep something on the screen and poll
the mailboxes every n seconds and update the display.

TIA,

dt