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From: dlc@c3.lanl.gov (Dale Carstensen)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: R5 wish list -- client recovery
Message-ID: <6220@lanl.gov>
Date: 17 Nov 90 02:16:32 GMT
Sender: news@lanl.gov
Reply-To: dlc@c3.lanl.gov (Dale Carstensen)
Lines: 17

My experience with X11R3 and X11R4, which has been mostly with Suns, has been
that if the server dies (just the "X" process dies, or the whole host reboots), the
remote clients that had been connected to it continue to run, usually.  I have to go
on a search and destroy mission to clean them up, sometimes finding clients
patiently waiting on the expired server for a month or more.  On the other hand,
unreliability in the network connection between client and server can terminate
clients while the server is still running.  I would think that the clients could
tell that the server has been gone for some sufficiently long time and terminate
themselves, or, better yet, reconnect to the same "DISPLAY" (and the same user, I
would hope) once the user has brought a new server up.

If I actively terminate the server by finishing the last remaining active program
from .xinitrc, the clients do get cleaned up, but when something more drastic kills
off the server, a mess is left.  I use xinit exclusively, so maybe with xdm or other
ways to start the server, this problem doesn't happen or is somewhat different.  I
need the option to run other window systems, so replacing getty with xdm is not an
option.