On Tue, Jul 06, 2004 at 02:28:33AM -0700, Chris Waters wrote: > "* Modify Xsession to always append to the error file, closing a temporary > file race condition window if it has to fall back to using tempfile(1) to > create an X session error file. Because it always appends now, log the > fact that the session has started, the username, and the date to the X > session error file once it is successfully opened. Document this change > in behavior in Xsession(5)." > > Ok, that makes perfect sense if the error file is created by > tempfile(1), and lives in /tmp. But by default, it's not and it > doesn't. And people are used to the error file getting truncated. > The new always-append behavior is going to surprise a lot of people, > and upset a few. So, I'd like to toss out the suggestion that we go > back to truncating the file in the default case (not in /tmp). > > I even made a patch for your consideration. For the time being, I do not agree. Justification #1: Xsession is a conffile and anybody who's annoyed by this can apply your patch or a similar one themselves. Justification #2: I think programs and libraries -- especially GTK+ and Qt and their dependent hordes -- need to be broken of the philosophy that .xsession-errors is just another name for /dev/null. Anything that spews gouts of garbage to the file needs a bug filed against it, and I strongly encourage you to do so. I didn't get the memo that said .xsession-errors is supposed to be useless, and I resent the Desktop Movement for trying to make it thus. > (It can be modified to use "echo -n > $ERRFILE" or "cat /dev/null > > $ERRFILE" if my idiom of ": > $ERRFILE" seems too obscure.) Not at all; I use it myself. I eschew useless uses of cat (and echo)! -- G. Branden Robinson | It may be difficult to to determine Debian GNU/Linux | where religious beliefs end and branden@debian.org | mental illness begins. http://people.debian.org/~branden/ | -- Elaine Cassel
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