diff -urNad rdiff-backup-1.2.8~/rdiff_backup/SetConnections.py rdiff-backup-1.2.8/rdiff_backup/SetConnections.py
--- rdiff-backup-1.2.8~/rdiff_backup/SetConnections.py	2009-03-16 15:36:21.000000000 +0100
+++ rdiff-backup-1.2.8/rdiff_backup/SetConnections.py	2009-10-03 19:27:54.935647306 +0200
@@ -135,10 +135,10 @@
 	if not remote_cmd: return Globals.local_connection
 
 	Log("Executing " + remote_cmd, 4)
-	if os.name == "nt":
+	if map(int, sys.version.split()[0].split('.')[:2]) >= [2, 6]:
 		import subprocess
 		try:
-			process = subprocess.Popen(remote_cmd, shell=False, bufsize=0,
+			process = subprocess.Popen(remote_cmd, shell=True, bufsize=0,
 								stdin=subprocess.PIPE, 
 								stdout=subprocess.PIPE)
 			(stdin, stdout) = (process.stdin, process.stdout)