Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!mcnc!rti!tijc02!cgh018
From: cgh018@tijc02.UUCP (Calvin Hayden    )
Newsgroups: comp.bugs.sys5
Subject: Re: Re: ulimit (was: getty/login for callback)
Message-ID: <451@tijc02.UUCP>
Date: 20 Apr 89 20:05:16 GMT
References: <180001@mechp10.UUCP> <13853@rpp386.Dallas.TX.US> <797@twwells.uucp> <28@wells.UUCP> <399@aucis.UUCP> <501@bilver.UUCP> <19516@genrad.UUCP> <628@eecea.eece.ksu.edu> <1456@auspex.auspex.com>
Distribution: usa
Organization: Texas Instr., Johnson City TN
Lines: 26

> >>Excuse me, perhaps I'm slow.  But could someone please explain to me
> >>just what the PURPOSE of "ulimit" is?  What are it's GOOD points?  
> >
> >It is designed to keep processes from accidentally filling up file
> >systems.
> 
> Fine.  Did it has to be implemented so obnoxiously to achieve that goal?
> I've seen posting after posting complaining that the ulimit was too low,
> and that it was painful to crank it up.  It would have been a lot better
> had the default been "infinity" rather than 1MB; if somebody actually
> *does* want to limit their program's disk consumption, they can set a
> non-infinite ulimit themselves.

  If you have source, it doesn't have to be 1MB.  Our limit is 2MB.  The
change was made in the /usr/include/sys/param.h file.  The line
 ..#define CDLIMIT  (1L<<11)    /* for 1mb limit */
was changed to
 ..#define CDLIMIT  (1L<<12)    /* for 2mb limit */

  'Course, this is SysV Rel2 Ver2 source, and the change does require
the building of a new kernel.

=============
Calvin Hayden
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