Path: utzoo!attcan!nebulus!tslanpar!mslanpar!pat From: pat@mslanpar (Pat R. Calhoun) Newsgroups: comp.bugs.sys5 Subject: Re: ulimit (was: getty/login for callback) Message-ID: <130@mslanpar> Date: 22 Apr 89 18:37:59 GMT References: <180001@mechp10.UUCP> <13853@rpp386.Dallas.TX.US> <797@twwells.uucp> <1034@quintus.UUCP> Organization: MSLanpar,Montreal,Quebec Lines: 43 In article <1034@quintus.UUCP>, ok@quintus.UUCP (Richard A. O'Keefe) writes: > There is nothing to stop me creating 500 1/2Mb files! I cannot argue with the fact that multiple files can be created which would defeat the purpose of having a ulimit. But this will more than likely happen only if creating huge files was intentional. However, I must admit that not all user's are UNIX x-perts'... Not only once have I seen some junior programmer attempt to write a 'C' program which creates a output file. The only problem is he forgets to increase a counter. (I guess I should note that I had ulimit set up to ~4000000). Assuming it's A Friday afternoon, and he leaves the process to execute and hope to come in Monday morning to find his program works :-). Well, you're planning another 'all week-end hack session' to find that you can't even log in since the system ca't update utmp, or something of the like. I can personally say that jumping into my car to drive at the office at midnight IS A PAIN IN THE ASS!!!!!! I realize there are alot of assumptions in my statements (and NO FLAME IS INTENDED!), but a senario similar to the above has happened to me. I agree with all that ulimit is a barrier for most users, but if the user did want to take up GIGABYTES of disk space, ulimit will not stop him. To me, ulimit is a protection against users taking up GIGABTES of disk space unintentionally (or out of stupidity)!! > If the default ulimit had been infinity (with ordinary users only being able > to decrease it), any sysadmin who wanted the present state of affairs could > have done it with one line in /etc/profile, and sites that didn't want to > know about it wouldn't have had file transfers die mysteriously. After the above incident had occured to me, I learned quickly and wrote a new shell (almost same as BOURNE) except that it takes a user id and compares it in a user database which contains the users' allowable ulimit size. Since then everybody seems happy. -- "The statements above do not reflect my thoughts, but those of my employer who forces me to think this way (OR ELSE!!!!!)" _^_ ||| Pat "King of the Trenches" Calhoun | Technical Support Group, Lanpar Technologies /\/\/\/\/\ UUCP: ...!attcan!nebulus!tslanpar!mslanpar DISCLAIMER: "Read the DAMN manual, I don't need this SHIT!!"