Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!hsdndev!cmcl2!adm!smoke!gwyn From: gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: sorting a BIG file (solved) Message-ID: <16010@smoke.brl.mil> Date: 30 Apr 91 16:10:29 GMT Article-I.D.: smoke.16010 References: Organization: U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratory, APG, MD. Lines: 14 In article mjs@behemoth.genetics.wisc.edu (Mike Schmelzer) writes: >sort(1) tries to use /usr/tmp (which is on /) instead >of /tmp (which I had doinked around with so that it was >on /mnt/bigpartition). Why sort does is is a mystery to >me. Fortunately, sort takes a -T argument, which allows >you to specify where to put sort's scratchfiles. /usr/tmp is the usual default directory for temporary files, and is normally expected to have more space in it than /tmp. /tmp should be used only by critical system software, not for potentially huge user temporary files (such as are created during merge sorting). You might check whether or not your utilities honor the TMPDIR environment variable.