Defunct processes accumulating when checking email
Got a strange bug that developed as I have been migrating to Gnome 2 -
when any application checks for new email, the process doesn't exit, but
becomes defunct, meaning that the next check results in another process,
be it checking the mbox file on /var/mail or logging in through POP3.
This continues until the system hits 400 processes, at which point it
stops forking any more user processes, and I need to su to root and
killall one or more of my applications checking email to clear up
(somewhat) these zombies.
This first was noticable after installing gnome-db2 (??? most of GDA for
Gnome 2 was already installed and working fine here - why would adding a
front-end gum things up?) I've been adding Gnome 2 applications and
required libraries as they have been flagged in unstable (otherwise, I
essentially run only testing.) All that said, I'm wondering if I should
force a back-out of Gnome altogether, and re-install just Gnome 1.4
until Gnome 2 gets completed in Sid and moved to Sarge.
--
Mark L. Kahnt, FLMI/M, ALHC, HIA, AIAA, ACS, MHP
ML Kahnt New Markets Consulting
Tel: (613) 531-8684 / (613) 539-0935
Email: kahnt@hosehead.dyndns.org
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