Re: zombies

[Bolan Meek <Bolan.Meek@wcom.com>]

Bolan Meek wrote:
> 
> Sven Burgener wrote:
>  ...
> > Today I noticed the following:
> >
> > 15444  ?  Z    0:00 (cron <zombie>)
> >
> > Under which circumstances does a process turn into a zombie? I assume
> > this applies to UNIX in general.
> 
> zombies are what is left from child processes when the parents thereof
> do not wait() for them, but exit() instead.

Whoops:  they are what is left from child processes if _they_ terminate
without being wait()ed.  Sorry for the confusion.  I'm glad I read the
link I passed along.

> >
> > Any pointers / references appreciated.
> 
> http://support.qnx.com/support/docs/qnx4/sysarch/proc.html has another
> wording.

BTW, I found this by requesting a search of 'zombie process' on
http://www.google.com/search?q=&num=100