[PyQt] QtGui.QApplication() never returns

[Joe Turpin]

Hi All,
I tried posting through gmane's interface a couple of hours ago, but
the message never showed up. It said it would take around 10 mins.,
which is why I'm reposting. I apologize if this now shows up twice.

I have a very basic python script file that looks like the following
(taken directly from an online tutorial):

    #!/usr/bin/python

    # simple.py

    import sys
    from PyQt4 import QtGui

    app = QtGui.QApplication(sys.argv)

    widget = QtGui.QWidget()
    widget.resize(250, 150)
    widget.setWindowTitle('simple')
    widget.show()

    sys.exit(app.exec_())

The script runs to completion when I execute it under my regular user
account, but hangs when I execute it as root.. Using pdb I inserted a
set_trace() and found that it never returns from the call to
QtGui.QApplication(). Any ideas why this might be happening?

Thanks so much for your time and my apologies if this has been asked
before or has an obvious answer. I scoured the archives and the web
via google, but had no luck finding my question let alone an answer.

Thanks,
Joe