From: Rob.Levin@f217.n3802.z1.fidonet.org (Rob Levin) Subject: File system issues.... Date: 14 Jul 1992 07:32:12 GMT
>Thanks to all who replied to my original posting on write-back caching
>in Linux. The Control-Alt-Delete suggestion makes a lot of sense. I
>think I remember Linus saying he wanted to hook it to a script file of
>some sort, so something may be in the works, there.
JWJ> I think in addition to this, there should be something like
JWJ> Ctrl-Shift-Alt-Delete that reboots *without* trying to sync.
There
JWJ> may be times when you don't want it to try and sync (say, you've
been
JWJ> having severe problems with your hard drive, and a sync will
start
JWJ> choking on bad blocks or something).
Makes sense! This could save a lot of trouble when you know a recovery
will be required, either way.... ;-)
JWJ> Actually, I think such a capability is available now, to have
JWJ> Ctrl-Alt-Del send a signal to init(8), which will then perform
some
JWJ> actions before rebooting the computer (ie. syncing).
If I understand correctly, yes. At least one of the flavors of 'init'
someone is working on is designed to execute scripts when that happens.
Presumably, that signal could trigger anything the programmer
desires.... :-)
Question, though. Regarding the construction 'init(8)'--a number of
people have used similar constructions. I assume this does not refer to
a manual page? [scratching head] What does the '(8)', in fact, refer
to? A process number? A call parameter? Try to explain in simple
terms for us operating-system literate, Unix-illiterate types. 8-)
Thanks in advance for your help!
Rob L.
* Origin: Via the Annex in Victoria, TX (1:3802/217)