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Re: Why require ps -W and kill -f


On 01/22/2010 04:28 PM, Don Beusee wrote:
People don't care about implementation details.  They care about what is
running on the system (the WHOLE system).  They want kill and ps to show
what's running on the system, not what cygwin "thinks" is running.  Since
exec() creates a new process on windows, that's more relevant for these
tools.

You have to admit, ps -ef showing only a few processes out of a houndred
is a serious handicap for these tools and any scripts trying to maintain
compatibility across windows and unix/linux.  Also, the man page for -e
(on unix/linux) says that -e means "every process on the system".

It will be more useful to show all windows processes, or if you want to
be smart about it, all windows processes minus all the ones cygwin knows
are the result of exec().  However, I think the exec() distinction
doesn't really matter (certainly not to most people), since, how often
will you really see it and how often will it really matter?  I don't see
what's the big deal to allow ps and kill to see all windows processes by
default.

How about let the user control how this works without having to change
scripts or typing habits?  Can you add a new option via the CYGWIN
environment variable, something like [no]allprocs which kill and ps can
look at instead of -f and -W options (although you can keep those for
compatibility with existing cygwin releases)?  Of course, I think the
default behavior should be allprocs, since I believe almost all users
will prefer this behavior.

You've been given allot of good reasons for why Cygwin's 'ps' works as it does. While there may be some minimal benefit to users to not have to type the extra flag to get Windows processes listed, if that's what they want, adding a system-wide flag to the CYGWIN environment variable is a 10 ton sledge hammer for the pin you're trying to drive home. I don't see the point to arguing for this change to Cygwin if you're not going to get consistency everywhere though. Perhaps you should consider that aspect and redirect your efforts upstream if you feel this issue warrants more discussion (and hasn't already been hashed and rehashed there). In any case, as others have pointed out already, in the meantime, you're "stuck" with the current options - either alias or script your way out of this problem or create a patched version for yourself.


-- Larry Hall http://www.rfk.com RFK Partners, Inc. (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office 216 Dalton Rd. (508) 893-9889 - FAX Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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