Python: interrupt a command if it takes too long?

[veraction]

I have a python program which utilizes another program (coded in C) to factorize numbers.

It uses the commands.getoutput() to run the program.

Basically, I want it to run the C program for a series of values, but if the command takes > X seconds, then it should interrupt it.

Any ideas on how I'd implement this?

edit: I'd rather not mess with the C code, but I suppose I could if I had to