Don't use $math$ mode to typeset a simple '>' sign. Use \code, not \samp.
diff --git a/Doc/lib/libcommands.tex b/Doc/lib/libcommands.tex
index fe6f929..0bc2a2b 100644
--- a/Doc/lib/libcommands.tex
+++ b/Doc/lib/libcommands.tex
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
\begin{funcdesc}{getstatusoutput}{cmd}
Execute the string \var{cmd} in a shell with \code{os.popen()} and return
a 2-tuple (status, output). \var{cmd} is actually run as
-\samp{\{\ cmd \} ; 2$>$\$1}, so that the returned output will contain output
+\code{\{ cmd ; \} 2>\&1}, so that the returned output will contain output
or error messages. A trailing newline is stripped from the output.
The exit status for the command can be interpreted according to the
rules for the \C{} function \code{wait()}.
diff --git a/Doc/libcommands.tex b/Doc/libcommands.tex
index fe6f929..0bc2a2b 100644
--- a/Doc/libcommands.tex
+++ b/Doc/libcommands.tex
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
\begin{funcdesc}{getstatusoutput}{cmd}
Execute the string \var{cmd} in a shell with \code{os.popen()} and return
a 2-tuple (status, output). \var{cmd} is actually run as
-\samp{\{\ cmd \} ; 2$>$\$1}, so that the returned output will contain output
+\code{\{ cmd ; \} 2>\&1}, so that the returned output will contain output
or error messages. A trailing newline is stripped from the output.
The exit status for the command can be interpreted according to the
rules for the \C{} function \code{wait()}.