docs: def ping(hostname: str, timeout_s: int = 5) -> bool:
      """
      Pings a host, using OS tools.
  
      Args:
          hostname: host name or IP address
          timeout_s: timeout in seconds
  
      Returns:
          was the ping successful?
  
      """
      if sys.platform == "win32":
          timeout_ms = timeout_s * 1000
          args = [
              "ping",
              hostname,
              "-n", "1",  # ping count
              "-w", str(timeout_ms),  # timeout
          ]
      elif sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
          args = [
              "ping",
              hostname,
              "-c", "1",  # ping count
              "-w", str(timeout_s),  # timeout
          ]
      else:
          raise AssertionError("Don't know how to ping on this operating system")
      proc = subprocess.Popen(args,
                              stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
      proc.communicate()
      retcode = proc.returncode
      return retcode == 0