Re: [HACKERS] Sure enough, the lock file is gone

[Ross J. Reedstrom]

On Fri, Jan 26, 2001 at 11:55:16PM -0500, Bruce Momjian wrote:
> > I said:
> > > Yes, there are lots of systems that will clean /tmp --- and since the
> > > lock file is an ordinary file (not a socket) pretty much any tmp-cleaner
> > > is going to decide to remove it.  I think that I had intended to insert
> > > a periodic touch of the lockfile and forgot to.
> > 
> > Done now.
> 
> Yes, checkpoint is a good place to put it.  Thanks.  I still liked the
> BRAINDAMAGED_TMP_CLEANER though.
> 

Well, from reading the rest of the thread, it seems that, while tmpreaper
_is_, in fact, brain damaged (it'll eat socket files) that wasn't what we
were talking about: removal of apparently stale ordinary files, like our
lockfile, is what tmp cleaners are all about, even if it is problematic.

Personally, I've always thought tmp cleaners are a bad idea, a bandaid
approach to cleaning up after poorly written software: i.e. broken by
design. Well, it's resolved now, for pgsql. Can't fix all the software
out there, I guess.

Ross