Re: clearing out /tmp

[mike808@users.sourceforge.net]

> On Sun, Apr 13, 2003 at 05:23:08PM +0000, mike808@users.sourceforge.net wrote:
> > Advice to "switch to Redhat and you won't have this problem" isn't, IMHO, 
> > the most effective response to such a problem.
> 
> Did I say "switch to Red Hat"?  No.  I just said that on Red Hat
> systems with tmpwatch installed, you shouldn't need to worry about it
> in general.  I also tried to imply that tmpwatch is probably available
> for other distributions.

Just as on WindowsXP systems you don't need to worry about ActiveDirectory
integration problems, or on the many Microsoft Windows platforms available.

A rose is a rose is a rose ...

> I just checked, and it definitely comes with both Mandrake and SuSE,
> but not Debian.

Apparently you didn't check very well. It's not part of the 8.1 normal install.
"comes with" WRT to SuSE is a bit misleading, as there is 7 CDs worth of
"comes with" software. Not all of it is installed. The MDK, I can believe,
since its roots are closer to RHs. And for many, if it's not in Debian, 
it's not RealLinux(tm). It also means it's not in Debian-based distros like
Connectiva, Xandros, Lindows, Lycoris, Libranet, and others.

> A quick Google search shows that Debian comes with a
> similar (apparently enhanced) utility called tmpreaper.
> 
> So my point still stands.  This is a problem that the average Linux
> user should not need to deal with under normal circumstances.

Just because some package is available for a distro does not mean it's
part of the default install. His system has a very good chance of NOT having
the item you point out that RH does by default.

And, a lookup up of the history of this "tmpwatch" package, it seems it is
a Redhat-developed utility - by RH, for RH (by Erik Troan, and Preston Brown,
both of RH). Just because RH "thunk it up" doesn't mean everyone else 
"obviously" must blindly adopt stuff they put in their distro. Though some do,
such as the former "LinuxOne" distro, which thankfully, is gone.
http://www.linuxworld.com/linuxworld/lw-1999-11/lw-11-linuxone_p.html

I don't doubt your sh^Hkill in RH. You should keep in mind that there are 
plenty of other distributions that are not RH, and that there's a 
reasonable chance that someone posting a question isn't running RH.

As you said, if the poster was running RH, they wouldn't have the issue.
Since they did make the post and apparently does have the issue, it would 
be reasonable to conclude they therefore *do not* run RH. Therefore, 
RH-specific advice is pretty irrelevant, don't you think? Unless the 
"solution" involved "upgrading" to RH in order to obtain this utility you 
mention, the "rah-rah for RH" or "works for me" isn't overly helpful.

There also isn't a project page for it, so it's still very closely tied to RH.
Either that, or there are several forks and projects calling themselves 
"tmpwatch" for the other distros. Neither of which leads me to believe that
tmpwatch is an equivalent Open Source package to something like e2fsprogs.

Just because something is GPL doesn't mean it's any good or useful to 
anyone other than the author.

Mike808/



---------------------------------------------
http://www.valuenet.net



-
To unsubscribe, send email to majordomo@luci.org with
"unsubscribe luci-discuss" in the body.