RALPH@UHHEPG.BITNET (05/21/88)
Date: 20-MAY-1988 16:16:23.48 From: Ralph Becker-Szendy RALPH AT UHHEPG To: 0::"info-vax@kl.sri.com",RALPH Subj: What resources does an idle process tie up ... or why have a watcher ? Hi We are having a debate here, and I thought it may be a good idea to ask the wizards: What resources are tied up by an "idle" user process ? Idle as in: running DCL, but the user doesn't enter any command for hours. My thoughts are that such a process is not harmfull or even wastefull. The minimum amount of memory alloted to the process will be swapped out sooner or later, and in times of large memories that doesn't matter much anyhow. Essentially everyone has a terminal in his office, so blocking the terminal is not an issue either. On the other hand, logging in every two or three hours just to do one or two commands uses a lot of resources for process creation and running all the login files. Question: Am I right or am I wrong ? If if I'm right, what is the point in having a program to forcibly terminat idle processes ?? Thanks a lot in advance for the enlightenment ! Ralph Becker-Szendy RALPH@UHHEPG.PHYS.HAWAII.EDU University of Hawaii / High Energy Physics Group RALPH@UHHEPG.BITNET Watanabe Hall #203, 2505 Correa Road, Honolulu, HI 96822 (808)948-7391 "Hawaii - it's not just for tourists. People actually live and work there."