[jnotarstefano]

I think it's a typo: "Whenever Python EXITS, why isn't..."

[paol]

I think so too, but that still leaves the problem that the statement is false. I was really puzzled by this one.

[viraptor]

I think that OP is making a distinction between "deallocated by python's GC" and "dropped on the floor for the OS to collect".

Maybe a practical phrasing would be: "why does running Valgrind on a Python app show that some memory was never freed".

[guan]

Is it because there might be another Python process running, that was started after this one started, that has mapped the same executable or shared libraries?

[luminousmen]

Yes, it's a typo, will change