Cross platform solution for getting current login name in Python

Question

I'm looking for a cross platform solution for getting current login/username in Python.

I was surprised that os.getlogin() is only supported under Unix and even there is not necessarily returning what you would expect.

Answer 1

getpass.getuser() is your friend.

Answer 2

Here is what I use:

import os
username = getattr(os, "getlogin", None)
if not username:
    for var in ['USER', 'USERNAME','LOGNAME']:
        if  var in os.environ:
            username = os.environ[var]
print("username: %s" % (username))