Re: [PATCH] [2.5] Non-blocking write can block

[Ben Pfaff <blp@cs.stanford.edu>]

Linus Torvalds <torvalds@transmeta.com> writes:

> On Wed, 4 Jun 2003, Hua Zhong wrote:
> >
> > We ran into this problem here in an embedded environment. It causes
> > syslogd to hang and when this happens, everybody who talks to syslogd
> > hangs. Which means you may not even be able to login. In the end we used
> > exactly the same fix which seems to work.
> > 
> > I am curious to know the correct fix.
> 
> [ First off: your embedded syslog problem is fixed by making sure that
>   syslog doesn't try to write to a tty that somebody else might be
>   blocked. In other words, to me it sounds like a "well, don't do that
>   then" schenario, rather than a real kernel problem. ]

One day I managed to keep myself from logging in or su'ing or
doing a number of things that needed the log for a quite a while
by accidentally hitting Scroll Lock on a console that syslog was
set up to log to.  I suppose the answer is "don't do that" but it
was a mysterious problem for several minutes that day.
-- 
"Let others praise ancient times; I am glad I was born in these."
--Ovid (43 BC-18 AD)