fleischmann@myvax.DEC (This space for rent) (06/03/85)
[] As a user and former system manager I would like to comment about programs to logout "inactive" user's. I ran across and used a number of these applications and found that none of them were satisfactory for an installation with a large number of varied users. Some of the simpler programs just checked terminal I/O and couldn't tell if background process was taking place. One of the users would startup an application that took up to 45 minutes to generate a complex plot and woud be logged out after 30 minutes of no terminal activity. Some of the progams checked cpu time but couldn't tell that the user was copying large files accross the net. Also these programs took no notice of what applications were being run and the disconnect caused a significant amount of work to be lost. Not everyone writes applications that can safely handle the process being killed. /marc fleischmann ...!decwrl!dec-myvax!fleischmann