Re: Query about .xsession-errors file

[Reco <recoverym4n@gmail.com>]

 Hi.

On Tue, Sep 09, 2014 at 03:29:04PM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> Does some uttility or command (with switches) exist, that can purge
> the file of redundant (for example, entries over a week old, or,
> entries from before the current boot session) entries, so as to reduce
> the file size to content that is necessary to retain for debugging?

xsession-errors should be re-created when a new session starts (see
/etc/X11/Xsession for the details). Long-running X session can produce
annoyingly large .xsession-errors indeed.
The solution to this problem comes in the form of logrotate:

$ cat /etc/logrotate.d/xsession-errors 
/home/reco/.xsession-errors {
    size 1k
    rotate 1
    copytruncate
    missingok
    compress
}


> I am concerned that, should I simply delete the file, the system will
> crash or otherwise damage to the boot session, would occur.

While deleting it won't harm anything, it also does not release disk
space, as this file is open with all X clients.

Reco