Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Autologout of unused terminals
Message-ID: <8999@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 28 Nov 88 12:01:44 GMT
References: <201.nlunix6@orcenl.uucp> <83@cosmic.sns.UUCP> <2018@nunki.usc.edu>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) )
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 18

In article <2018@nunki.usc.edu> connet@castor.usc.edu (David Connet) writes:
>Another way, if you are using ksh, is to set the TMOUT variable.
>After TMOUT seconds, a message is sent saying to the effect 'if you don't
>do something in 60 seconds, I'm killing you...'

I don't know why Korn chose TMOUT when TIMEOUT was the prior art for this.
The BRL Bourne shell also can optionally be configured with TIMEOUT
support.  The correct description is:

If a PS1 prompt is not responded to within the TIMEOUT period, the shell
exits.  Setting TIMEOUT to 0 disables this feature.

Note that Blit/DMD/MTG (5620/630 etc.) users have to disable TIMEOUT
since some of their layer windows may not receive any input for quite
some time, especially if a downloaded process is in control of the
layer.  At least with the TIMEOUT approach there IS a way to disable
the auto-timeout when necessary.  Most suggested approaches are just
not usable in any but the most mickey-mouse environments.