31. Unix Specific Services

The modules described in this chapter provide interfaces to features that are unique to the Unix operating system, or in some cases to some or many variants of it. Here’s an overview:

• 31.1. posix — The most common POSIX system calls
  • 31.1.1. Large File Support
  • 31.1.2. Notable Module Contents
• 31.2. pwd — The password database
• 31.3. crypt — Function to check Unix passwords
• 31.4. fcntl — The fcntl() and ioctl() system calls
• 31.5. pipes — Interface to shell pipelines
  • 31.5.1. Template Objects
• 31.6. posixfile — File-like objects with locking support
• 31.7. commands — Utilities for running commands