Proper way to query user and group database on a Unix host?

[Fredrik Lundh]

Mike MacCana wrote:

> What's the proper way to query the passwd and group database on a Unix
> host? 
> 
> I'd like to fetch the users in a group (obviously from name services),
> but my many varied searches can't find any reference of someone ever
> looking up users on a Unix system, just NT. Weird, I know.

the relevant modules are "pwd", "spwd" and "grp"; see:

     http://docs.python.org/lib/unix.html

</F>