Documentation for subprocess.Popen()'s "user", "group", "extra_groups" args may need more usage info
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Description
It's very easy for someone that doesn't really understand the details of how to drop privileges (e.g. me) to use the "user", "group", and "extra_groups" args to subprocess.Popen() incorrectly ... or at least not in a way that gets the results they expect. Since there are potentially many reasonable patterns for using these It might be at least worth documenting that just setting "user" isn't a replacement for running a command under su or runuser.
Linked PRs
- gh-148129
- gh-148130
- gh-148131
- gh-148132
- gh-148134
- gh-148133
Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Research direction
Start from the subprocess.Popen() documentation for the user, group, and extra_groups arguments. Review the linked PRs before doing work, then ensure the documentation explains their privilege effects and why setting user alone is not equivalent to using su or runuser.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- python
- Domain
- documentation
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 25/100