https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=274445 Summary: tail not working as 'snappy' as technical possible Product: openSUSE 10.3 Version: Alpha 4 Platform: All OS/Version: All Status: NEW Severity: Enhancement Priority: P5 - None Component: Other AssignedTo: bnc-team-screening@forge.provo.novell.com ReportedBy: folkert@vanheusden.com QAContact: qa@suse.de Description of problem: I noticed that tail does not react as snappy to changes in a file it monitors (using 'tail -f') as is technically possible. So I did an strace on it and found the following fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=3559, ...}) = 0 nanosleep({1, 0}, NULL) = 0 .. as you can see it sleeps for a second between each check. Causing a delay of maximum 1 second before a change in the file monitored is reflected in the output of tail. Furthermore: it is not efficient to use fstat to see what has changed to the file. I propose a change to tail that either uses directly the inotify kernel-interface or via de sgi FAM-daemon. I once already implemented this using the older dnotify interface. -- Configure bugmail: https://bugzilla.novell.com/userprefs.cgi?tab=email ------- You are receiving this mail because: ------- You are on the CC list for the bug, or are watching someone who is.