Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site burl.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!bellcore!ulysses!burl!rcj From: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) Newsgroups: net.rumor Subject: Re: Computer Horror Stories Message-ID: <1048@burl.UUCP> Date: Sun, 23-Feb-86 22:53:43 EST Article-I.D.: burl.1048 Posted: Sun Feb 23 22:53:43 1986 Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 06:08:13 EST References: <14700001@hplabsb.UUCP> <476@mmm.UUCP> Reply-To: rcj@burl.UUCP (Curtis Jackson) Organization: AT&T Technologies, Burlington NC Lines: 23 Summary: In article <1215@brl-smoke.ARPA> ron@brl-smoke.ARPA (Ron Natalie ) writes: >> If you kick off a shell that infinitely forks these babies, the only way >> to kill the system in less than about 3 days is to drop it on the floor. >> The bad thing is that anyone can do it, no special privleges are >> necessary. I won't post the source for obvious reasons, but it is a >> wonderous way to get everyone competing for your resources to leave... >> I have never done it in a working environment, but Man have I been tempted!! >> >Most UNIX systems these days give a user process limit that is significantly >less than infinity or NPROC. Several people seem to think that I meant forking processes infinitely. We have a 25-process-per-user limit here; that isn't what I meant. One trivial process will make our Vax 11/780 *totally* catatonic for almost 10 minutes, and I do mean *totally*. Not slow, I mean apparently dead. What the above refers to is: "Now consider what would happen if someone started off a shell to infinitely fork these things [up to max processes per user, of course]". -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3313 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ ihnp4 ulysses cbosgd mgnetp ]!burl!rcj ...![ ihnp4 cbosgd akgua masscomp ]!clyde!rcj