title: mingw + python eagerly translating path
body: <p>I am using:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Windows XP</li>
  <li>Python 2.6.2 (standard install from python.org)</li>
  <li>git version 1.6.5.1-preview20091022 (installed from <a href="http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://code.google.com/p/msysgit/</a>)</li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>I have an environment variable looking like an absolute path (<code>/path/to/dir</code>) but I'm using it to construct a git URL. At some point, it's getting translated to <code>C:/Program Files/Git/path/to/dir</code>. It seems like Python is at fault:</p>
  
  <p>In a git bash shell:</p>
  
  <pre><code>$ export VAR=/path/to/dir
  $ echo $VAR
  /path/to/dir
  $ python
  &gt;&gt;&gt; import os
  &gt;&gt;&gt; os.environ['VAR']
  'C:/Program Files/Git/path/to/dir'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>git bash is not translating the path, but Python is?</p>
  
  <p>In a Windows Command Prompt, Python gets it right:</p>
  
  <pre><code>C:\&gt;set VAR=/path/to/dir
  C:\&gt;echo %VAR%
  /path/to/dir
  
  C:\&gt;python
  &gt;&gt;&gt; import os
  &gt;&gt;&gt; os.environ['VAR']
  '/path/to/dir'
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Can anyone explain what's going on here? And how can I prevent the translation in a bash shell?</p>
  
  <p>EDIT: I should add that my python script runs on OS X and Windows, so if anyone does have a solution it would be good if worked on both platforms.</p>