docs: def __get_env_handle(self, root_dir):
          """ get the filepath and filehandle to the .env file for the environment """
          env_path = os.path.join(root_dir, '.env')
          gui_path = os.path.join(root_dir, '.gui')
          fh = open(env_path, "w+")
          # .env will source utils.sh if it hasn't already
          fh.write(source_template % (gui_path, gui_path))
          fh.write(source_template % (self.shell_util_path,
                                      self.shell_util_path))
          return (env_path, fh)