putenv() and os.environ

[Siggy Brentrup]

Gerrit Holl <gerrit.holl at pobox.com> writes:

> Hello,
> 
> >>> os.putenv('aaa', 'bbb')
> >>> os.environ.get('aaa')
> 
> I can't get any environment variables not set with the os.environ
> dict. Shouldn't os.environ be rewritten in C then, so it can get
> the REAL environment variable?

That's documented behavior, cf. Lib Reference lib/os_procinfo.html:

putenv (varname, value) 
  Set the environment variable named varname to the string value. Such
  changes to the environment affect subprocesses started with
  os.system(), popen() or fork() and execv(). Availability: most
  flavors of Unix, Windows.

  When putenv() is supported, assignments to items in os.environ are
  automatically translated into corresponding calls to putenv();
  however, calls to putenv() don't update os.environ, so it is
  actually preferable to assign to items of os.environ.

HIH
  Siggy