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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!cca!cfh
From: cfh@cca.UUCP (Christopher Herot)
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: MAX FILES PER PROCESS PROBLEM
Message-ID: <6205@cca.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 30-Nov-83 22:34:31 EST
Article-I.D.: cca.6205
Posted: Wed Nov 30 22:34:31 1983
Date-Received: Fri, 2-Dec-83 03:18:05 EST
References: abnjh.305
Lines: 18


Rick Thomas's suggestion is precisely the kind or haughty arrogance
that gives programmers a bad name.  Such arbitrary restrictions are
often the cause of MORE complicated programs, since the programmer
must invent write-arounds to get the system to work.

As one example of why 20 not very large, consider a program which
has to drive 3 graphics displays, 3 touch screens, one data tablet,
one digitiser, a sound box, and an ascii terminal.  Now add a file for
error logging, and a few pipes to other processes and you don't have
very many left over for the actual disc files the program may need
to access.  As a result, the programmer may be prevented from using
simple and elegant schemes such as storing one relation from his database
in one Unix file.  Instead he must invent a more complex scheme to
store multiple relations in one file, or write a program to open
and close files in order to conserve the precious descriptors.

~v