On win98 os.path.expanuser('~') does not result in a useable directory. The MSDN recommendation for user specific directories is the use of shell.ShGetSpecialFolder, so use it. For details see: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/platform/shell/reference/functions/shgetspecialfolderpath.asp

#!/bin/sh

hg init
mkfifo p

hg serve --stdio < p &
P=$!
(echo lock; echo addchangegroup; sleep 5) > p &
Q=$!
sleep 1
kill -HUP $P
wait
ls .hg