import subprocess
from threading import Timer


def call(args, timeout):
 p = subprocess.Popen(args, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)

 timer = Timer(timeout, lambda process: process.kill(), [p])

 try:
  timer.start()
  stdout, stderr = p.communicate()
  return_code = p.returncode
  return (stdout, stderr, return_code)
 finally:
  timer.cancel()

print call(['hostname'], 2)
print call(['ping', 'www.baidu.com'], 2)