is it OK for invoke-rc.d stop not to stop?

[Dan Jacobson <jidanni@jidanni.org>]

Just curious, is it OK for /etc/init.d/noffle to (cause invoke-rc.d
stop to) not actually stop?:
# ps ax|grep noffle
  816 ?        S      0:00 noffle -r
# invoke-rc.d noffle stop
Switching offline news server into offline mode...
NOFFLE is already offline
Done.
# ps ax|grep noffle
  816 ?        S      0:00 noffle -r