Portability: python/python3 note + cross-shell lab commands (#31,#32) (#62)

Co-authored-by: claude <claude@jpaul.io>
Co-committed-by: claude <claude@jpaul.io>

modules/01-the-copy-paste-problem/README.md

@@ -137,6 +137,12 @@ purpose** so you recognize it later.
 - Python 3.10 or newer (`python --version` or `python3 --version` to check).
 - Your usual AI chat assistant, open in a browser tab.
 
+> **One command name, the whole course through:** whichever of `python` / `python3` just printed a
+> 3.10+ version is the command to use in *every* lab from here on. The labs are written with
+> `python`; if that's "command not found" on your machine — common on current macOS and default
+> Debian/Ubuntu, where Python is installed only as `python3` — read it as `python3` (and `pip3`
+> wherever a lab uses `pip`). This note holds course-wide; we won't repeat it.
+
 ### Get the course materials
 
 Everything you'll run in this course lives in one repo. Grab it once, up front — no tools required
@@ -170,6 +176,10 @@ You now have every module's files locally, including this one's under
 
    (Copy them however you like — drag-and-drop in your editor's file explorer is fine.)
 
+   > **On Windows:** these labs' shell snippets are written for bash — run them from **Git Bash** or
+   > **WSL** and they work as-is. In native PowerShell a few POSIX-only commands differ; here, `mkdir
+   > -p` becomes `New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force`.
+
 2. Open the folder in your editor (`code .` if you're using VS Code, or File → Open Folder).
 
 3. Run it in your terminal to confirm it works:

modules/12-revert-reset-and-recovery/README.md

@@ -305,6 +305,10 @@ do them once on purpose now.
    git log --oneline                             # the bad merge is STILL there, with a revert after it
    ```
 
+   > **On Windows:** `rm -f` is bash. Run this lab from Git Bash or WSL (it works as-is), or use
+   > PowerShell's `Remove-Item -Force tasks.json`. Every other command here is Git, identical across
+   > shells.
+
    That last point is the whole lesson: you undid the effect **without rewriting history**. Anyone who
    pulled the bad merge just pulls your revert on top and they're fine.
 

modules/16-containers-and-reproducible-environments/README.md

@@ -226,10 +226,14 @@ containerize and run the app you already have.
    image (that keeps it lean; see *Where it breaks*):
 
    ```bash
-   docker run --rm -v "$PWD":/app -w /app python:3.12-slim \
+   docker run --rm -v "${PWD}:/app" -w /app python:3.12-slim \
      python -m unittest
    ```
 
+   > **On Windows:** this step bind-mounts your code, so the host path matters. Run it from WSL (or
+   > Git Bash), or from PowerShell — `${PWD}` resolves correctly in each. The other `docker run`
+   > commands mount nothing of yours and are identical everywhere.
+
    This is, in miniature, exactly what containerized CI does. If it passes here, it passes the same
    way on any machine with the engine — your laptop's local Python version is now irrelevant.
 

modules/19-runners-the-compute-behind-automation/lab/inspect-runner.sh

@@ -15,6 +15,26 @@ set -u
 
 line() { printf '\n=== %s ===\n' "$1"; }
 
+# Try a TCP connect to host:port with a ~2s deadline, portably.
+# GNU `timeout` (Linux) or Homebrew's `gtimeout` are used when present; otherwise a bash-native
+# background-and-kill fallback keeps this working on stock macOS, which ships no GNU `timeout`.
+tcp_probe() {
+  host="$1"; port="$2"
+  if command -v timeout >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    timeout 2 bash -c ">/dev/tcp/${host}/${port}" 2>/dev/null
+  elif command -v gtimeout >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    gtimeout 2 bash -c ">/dev/tcp/${host}/${port}" 2>/dev/null
+  else
+    bash -c ">/dev/tcp/${host}/${port}" 2>/dev/null &
+    probe_pid=$!
+    ( sleep 2; kill "$probe_pid" 2>/dev/null ) >/dev/null 2>&1 &
+    killer_pid=$!
+    rc=0; wait "$probe_pid" 2>/dev/null || rc=$?
+    kill "$killer_pid" 2>/dev/null
+    return "$rc"
+  fi
+}
+
 line "WHO AND WHERE"
 echo "hostname : $(hostname 2>/dev/null)"
 echo "user     : $(whoami 2>/dev/null)  (root? $( [ "$(id -u 2>/dev/null)" = 0 ] && echo YES || echo no ))"
@@ -62,7 +82,7 @@ line "PRIVATE NETWORK REACH (the reason you self-host — and the reason it's da
 PROBES=( "192.168.0.1:80" "192.168.1.1:80" "10.0.0.1:80" )
 for hp in "${PROBES[@]}"; do
   host="${hp%%:*}"; port="${hp##*:}"
-  if timeout 2 bash -c ">/dev/tcp/${host}/${port}" 2>/dev/null; then
+  if tcp_probe "$host" "$port"; then
     echo "  REACHABLE: ${host}:${port}"
   fi
 done