python, shell, environment variable

[oliver]

hi, folks,

I am trying to get a set of python and bash scripts to work, and I
constantly run into trouble with environment variables:

First, my python script need to modify environment variable, say,
PATH, and want to keep the modification even after the script is done.
os.environ["PATH"]= ... doesn't seem to work, any idea?

Second, it would be better if my python script can call bash shell and
still keep the environment variable modification done by bash. I tried
os.popen("source some_shell"), it doesn't work. ?

Thanks for help.

-oliver