Xref: utzoo comp.emacs:4881 comp.unix.microport:2293
Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!mcvax!enea!kth!draken!chalmers!myab!lars
From: lars@myab.se (Lars Pensj|)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs,comp.unix.microport
Subject: Re: GNU Emacs
Message-ID: <448@myab.se>
Date: 14 Dec 88 08:16:25 GMT
References: <828@ubu.warwick.UUCP> <28173@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> <10960@bigtex.cactus.org> <8791@wright.mips.COM> <1138@csuchico.EDU> <429@lehi3b15.UUCP> <121@cbw1.UUCP> <8525@alice.UUCP>
Reply-To: lars@myab.UUCP (Lars Pensj|)
Organization: Myab Gothenburg, Sweden
Lines: 31

In article <8525@alice.UUCP> debra@alice.UUCP () writes:
>In article <121@cbw1.UUCP> brian@cbw1.UMD.EDU (Brian Cuthie) writes:
>>...
>>I don't know why, but the ld(er) is not very good about error messages when
>>it runs out of disk space.  This is *so* like many unix utilities.  I like
>>unix and have been using it for a *long* time, but I can't help but wonder
>>what universe some of the people who write these utilities live in.   I mean
>>would it be so difficult to say "ld: out of /tmp space ?"
>>...
>What's wrong with the message the kernel should display on the console:
>/tmp: file system full
>
>I don't know about Microport but every other unix system I have worked on
>will give you this message. I think it's a neat idea to put this message in
>just one place (in the kernel) rather than to repeat it in every utility.

I strongly disagree here. It is of vital importance that all programs
on their own check results of system calls (like write).

Even if some people uses the console, there are always a lot of people who
do not. It is also important that a program wich fails on a system call
(as in this case) immediately terminates (if it does not know how to recover).

I have had to much contact with programs that take for granted success of
some functions, with the result that the programs just fails without
telling why. Especially when porting to new systems.

And when a system call fails, always use perror.
-- 
    Lars Pensj|
    lars@myab.se