code: def _get_user_account_info(user):
      
      import pwd # Import here to avoid problems on other platforms
      if user[0] == '#':
          return pwd.getpwuid(int(user[1:]))
      else:
          return pwd.getpwnam(user)
docs: Get the user account info from the passwd database. Only works on Linux.
      @param user The name of a user account or a numeric uid prefixed with '#'
      @return a tuple that corresponds to the members of the passwd structure
      @raise KeyError: If user account is unknown
      @raise ValueError: If uid is not a valid number