> I just tried using script_helper in a new test, so I have a couple of
> comments.
> 
> I don't see stdout and stderr being conflated, it looks to me like
> they are returned separately, at least by the assert methods.

That's because I wrote the assert methods since this issue was opened :)

> It would be a big help if 'err' were returned with the refcount line
> removed if it is there, which would make tests using the methods
> return the same 'err' regardless of whether they are run under a debug
> build or not.

Indeed.

> I think the names of the two assert functions should follow the
> current unit test conventions (assertPythonRunOK and
> asssertPythonRunNotOK, perhaps?)

Well, they are functions, not methods, so I don't think they have to
follow the other convention.