Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!cica!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!unmvax!nmtsun!dwho
From: dwho@nmtsun.nmt.edu (David Olix)
Newsgroups: news.software.nntp
Subject: Re: infinitely forking inews
Message-ID: <3014@nmtsun.nmt.edu>
Date: 29 Jul 89 19:58:55 GMT
Reply-To: dwho@jupiter.nmt.edu (David Olix)
Distribution: usa
Organization: New Mexico Tech, Socorro NM
Lines: 24


Before you all send responses, comments, or whatever...
I think I finally figured the problem out.  Apparently mini-inews (the version
distributed with nntp 1.5) calls the post() routine in nntpd to post it's
stuff.  However, post() (post.c) calls spawn() (spawn.c) with the line:

retcode = spawn(inews, "inews", "-h", CONT_POST, ERR_POST, errbuff);

This forks off another mini-inews process, which then calls post(), which
forks off yet another mini-inews process, etc....

Questions:
1) Is this really what supposed to happen?
2) Is the following order for posting stuff correct?

Pnews => mini-inews => nntpd => (real) inews.
            ^                          ^
            | Note the difference here |

If so, I think this should be made *VERY* clear in the documentation as
having a machine crash 4 times in one hour due to process table overflows
is a real pain in the... *MMPH*!

--David Olix (dwho@nmtvax.nmt.edu)