Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!rutgers!ucsd!sdcsvax!ucsdhub!esosun!seismo!uunet!ispi!jbayer
From: jbayer@ispi.UUCP (Jonathan Bayer)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Autologout of unused terminals
Summary: automatic idle-killer software is useful
Message-ID: <310@ispi.UUCP>
Date: 3 Dec 88 15:27:13 GMT
References: <201.nlunix6@orcenl.uucp> <8978@smoke.BRL.MIL> <2682@sultra.UUCP> <9012@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Organization: Intelligent Software Products, Inc.
Lines: 21

In article <9012@smoke.BRL.MIL>, gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn ) writes:
> In article <2682@sultra.UUCP> dtynan@sultra.UUCP (Der Tynan) writes:
> 
> Because any automated scheme you come up is likely to ALSO kill off
> some perfectly legitimate jobs.
> 
> I have, nearly every day, important connections between a "terminal"
> and a host computer that appear to have no activity on them for a
> long time, sometimes hours.  However, the connections are needed and
> cannot be opened only at the time they are active; they must be
> arranged in advance then just sit there.  An automatic "kill idle
> terminal" daemon would wreak havoc with this.


Not if you can specify configuration information to the idle-killer via
a config. file.   We have such a product which will ignore specific
users (let them stay on forever), ttys , etc.  It is actually fairly
easy to write.

Jonathan Bayer
Intelligent Software Products, Inc.