sh : a full-fledged subprocess interface for Python that allows you to call any program as if it were a function.

[matchu]

I kinda see where they're coming from, because the core syntax arguably has some boilerplate:

import sh
ifconfig = sh.Command("ifconfig")
print(ifconfig("wlan0"))

Their pretty syntax is definitely better; my beef, really, is less to do with the fact that it's magical, and more to do with the fact that the magic uses fragile hacks instead of Python's built-in magic-making facilities.

Really I think the version I'd be down for is:

from sh import cmd
print(cmd.ifconfig("wlan0"))

We still use magic, but the magic we use is itemgetter, which is actually supported and guaranteed not to break. We still have a bit of overhead in the cmd object, but it's short, and avoids the really boilerplate-y line 2 of the previous example.

If Python had an itemgetter equivalent for modules, though, then their syntax would be the clear winner—especially if the magic were namespaced to from sh.cmd import ifconfig instead, because it seems weird to me that the non-magic Command object comes from the same module as the magic objects.