os.popen() vs os.system()

[Sposhua]

On Wed, 22 Dec 1999, Gerrit Holl wrote:

> Sposhua wrote:
> > a) popen automatically starts a new process while system only does it if you
> > include an &
> 
> Not true:
> >>> os.getpid()
> 3264
> >>> os.system("echo $$")
> 3658

!? You are replying to a newbie here ;-) Didn't quite understand the answer...

PS, thanks to all for the great responses from everyone *grovel,grovel* up to
now. Hopefully this (coupled with my trusty book & tutorials) will
eventually elevate me from my current newbie status so I can actually help out
in here. Basically all my questions are more "WhyTo"s rather than "HowTo"s, does
that make them more challenging? ;-)