>>> import os
>>> os.mkdir('foo')
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
OSError: [Errno 17] File exists: 'foo'
>>> os.mkdir('dummy_own')
>>> os.ch
os.chdir(   os.chmod(   os.chown(   os.chroot(
>>> os.chown('dummy_own', 5000, 6000)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
OSError: [Errno 1] Operation not permitted: 'dummy_own'
>>>
[tmp]% ls -ld dummy_own
drwxr-xr-x 2 parthm parthm 4096 2010-03-06 18:06 dummy_own/
[tmp]%

[tmp]% chown 5000:6000 dummy_own
chown: changing ownership of `dummy_own': Operation not permitted
[tmp]%
[tmp]% pwd
/home/parthm/tmp
[tmp]%