difference in popen() or system() in thread vs. top level  Rich
Drewes pydrew01 at interstice.com Fri Aug 8 18:25:13 CEST 2003
I'm having a strange problem:  *certain* subprograms invoked
from within  python 2.2 via popen/system/spawnv don't seem to
return control to  python.  Others return to python just fine.
The invoked subprogram  *does* complete, but control does not
return to python.  Furthermore,  and this is the weird part, in
python 2.2 I only see the problem when  the subprogram is
invoked from *within a thread*!  If the same  subprogram is
invoked from the top level of execution, then control  returns
to python just fine.  The problem does not exist in python
1.5.2; everything works fine there under identical conditions,
both when  the subprogram is invoked from the top level and also
from a thread.  To summarize:  * problem is not seen in python
1.5.2; subprograms always return control  to python * problem is
not seen ever when subprogram invocation is from top level  of
program;    only when