From owner-freebsd-hackers@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Nov 25 18:16:58 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: hackers@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 526021065675 for ; Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:16:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from wonkity.com (wonkity.com [67.158.26.137]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id D98C28FC0C for ; Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:16:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from wonkity.com (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5) with ESMTP id pAPHrd99080755; Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:53:39 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Received: from localhost (wblock@localhost) by wonkity.com (8.14.5/8.14.5/Submit) with ESMTP id pAPHrdrd080752; Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:53:39 -0700 (MST) (envelope-from wblock@wonkity.com) Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:53:39 -0700 (MST) From: Warren Block To: Tom Evans In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <4ECF54F1.50203@FreeBSD.org> <201111251609.pAPG97dT008848@slippy.cwsent.com> User-Agent: Alpine 2.00 (BSF 1167 2008-08-23) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="-902635197-1839580335-1322243619=:80691" X-Greylist: Sender IP whitelisted, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.2.7 (wonkity.com [127.0.0.1]); Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:53:39 -0700 (MST) Cc: hackers@freebsd.org Subject: Re: cron(8) mis-feature with @reboot long after system startup X-BeenThere: freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Technical Discussions relating to FreeBSD List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:16:58 -0000 This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text, while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools. ---902635197-1839580335-1322243619=:80691 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8BIT On Fri, 25 Nov 2011, Tom Evans wrote: > On Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 4:09 PM, Cy Schubert wrote: >> Changing the behaviour by default would change the semantics of @reboot, >> altering  the behaviour of cron jobs which rely on the brokenness. What if >> both behaviours are wanted on the same system? Unlikely, as I can't see >> anyone relying on this broken behaviour. Having said that, I'm sure there >> are cron jobs that do rely on the broken behaviour, so it may be best to >> simply deprecate the broken behaviour and make one or the other a command >> line option. > > > The problem is that the behaviour is not broken, it works exactly as > described in crontab(5) - it is just confusing. But crontab(5) just says "startup", when really it means "cron startup", so: http://svnweb.freebsd.org/base?view=revision&revision=227981 > It's also slightly nonsensical - the command isn't run at reboot, it > is run at boot. It isn't just at boot, even. Really it should be called @cronstart. But that ship probably sailed a long time ago. A better alias could be added and @reboot marked as deprecated. (This does not address the technical problem of really only running something at system startup. IMHO, rc scripts are a better fit for that.) ---902635197-1839580335-1322243619=:80691--