What is a portable way (e.g. for Linux and Windows) to get the current user's username? Something similar to os.getuid() would be nice:
>>> os.getuid()
42
# Does not currently exist in Python
>>> os.getusername()
'slartibartfast'
The pwd module works for Unix only. Some people suggest that getting the username under Windows can be complicated in certain circumstances (e.g., running as a Windows service).
Windows:
os.environ.get('USERNAME')
Linux:
os.environ.get('USER')
Both:
os.environ.get('USER', os.environ.get('USERNAME'))
Note that environment variables can be modified by the user, so this is a potential security vulnerability. With this method, an attacker can easily fake their username.
These might work. I don't know how they behave when running as a service. They aren't portable, but that's what os.name and ifstatements are for.
win32api.GetUserName()
win32api.GetUserNameEx(...)
See: http://timgolden.me.uk/python/win32_how_do_i/get-the-owner-of-a-file.html