[icebraining]

How is that a WTF? It's exactly the same code you could/should use with os.system()! And besides, it's completely straightforward Python.

[nknight]

You're talking about what you think programmers should do. I'm talking about what they actually do.

99% of system() calls (regardless of language) will never be so adorned. It's used for quick hacks, rarely anything more. If the return code is checked at all, people only pay attention to whether it's something other than 0.