Things to be aware of when writing auto-updates

Christopher Hicks chicks at CHICKS.NET
Mon Jan 14 16:07:58 GMT 2002


On Mon, 14 Jan 2002, Julian Field wrote:
> At 13:45 14/01/2002, you wrote:
> >It's wrong, or rather, sweep.pl is wrong.  Sweep.pl uses the lock file
> >in /tmp, when it should really be in /var/lock (under most Linux
> >distributions that I know of).
>
> Saying it is "wrong" is a bit strong, IMHO. Many Linux distributions
> prefer to put lock files in /var/lock, but so long as all the users of
> the lock files agree where they should go everything will work fine.

Well, if you consider the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard which is firmly
grounded in POSIX, wrong may not be too strong.  For one thing:

        Programs must not assume that any files or directories in
        /tmp are preserved between invocations of the program.

and the section on /var/lock is also forcefully worded:

        Lock files should be stored within the /var/lock directory
        structure.

        Lock files for devices and other resources shared by multiple
        applications, such as the serial device lock files that were
        originally found in either /usr/spool/locks or
        /usr/spool/uucp, must now be stored in /var/lock.

        ...

--
</chris>

Neither sweat, nor blood, nor frustration, or lousy manuals
nor missing parts, or wrong parts shall keep me from my task.



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