how not to use popen

void ip_lookup(char* host, char* out, IRCSession* session) {
    char sbuf[256];
    sprintf(sbuf, "./geoip.rb %s", host);

    printf("[*] Running %s\n", sbuf);
    FILE* fp = popen(sbuf, "r");

    while (fgets(sbuf, 256, fp) != NULL) {
        if (sbuf[0] == 0x00) continue;

        write_to_socket(session, out, "\rPRIVMSG %s :%s", session->channel, sbuf);
    }

    pclose(fp);
}