From my tests it would appear that Python's open built-in won't expand the ~ character to the user's home directory. You'll need [os.expanduser](http://docs.python.org/2/library/os.path.html#os.path.expanduser).

What is the purpose of adding this ~/.bashrc when it's already being fed into the kinit's environment on execution? Is it just to allow an admin logged in as the zenoss user to troubleshoot using command line tools more easily? If so, cool.