Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!cit-vax!mangler
From: mangler@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu (System Mangler)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: file times
Message-ID: <2406@cit-vax.Caltech.Edu>
Date: Sun, 19-Apr-87 03:38:40 EST
Article-I.D.: cit-vax.2406
Posted: Sun Apr 19 03:38:40 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 19-Apr-87 17:47:32 EST
References: <12854@watnot.UUCP> <6362@mimsy.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: California Institute of Technology
Lines: 17
Summary: getting users to clean up

In article <12854@watnot.UUCP> djfiander@watnot.UUCP writes:
>... do any of the usual UNIX utilties/programs use the creation/access
>times in a file [...]?

The undocumented "-v" option to 4.[23] BSD /etc/quot lists the number
of kilobytes not accessed in 30, 60, 90 days.  This is useful when
pleading with self-righteous users to clean out their deadwood.  It
would be even more valuable if it summarized far longer access times
(for the highly self-righteous types who use 80% of the disk space
and cannot be cajoled/coerced to delete anything accessed within the
last 500 days).

The change time (st_ctime) is used only by /etc/dump.  Neither atime
nor ctime is useful if you do backups with "tar", since tar accesses
all the files.

Don Speck   speck@vlsi.caltech.edu  {seismo,rutgers,ames}!cit-vax!speck