Tommy Lakofski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > whoops, this should have gone to the list too. > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > On Thu, 11 Dec 1997, Hamish Moffatt wrote: > [ I said: ] > > > >It is NOT necessary for the last command to be started with exec. In > > > >fact, exec should only be used on the window manager, and only if that > > > >is the last command in .xinitrc. The problem is more likely the use of > > > >&'s. Every program started in .xinitrc should have & appended EXCEPT > > > >the window manager. > > Doesn't a /bin/sh stick around if you don't use exec? Or did that change > at some point? I think I put exec in my .xsession before the windowmanager > when I first installed debian (buzz) to make the /bin/sh go away, and it's > been there ever since.
Yes, by using exec to launch a command from a script, the process associated with the script (/bin/sh) is replaced by the process associated with the command. This saves a few system resources, since the script process is not laying sleeping in the background for no purpose. The program pstree is an excellent tool to see the effect of this. However, the improvement of performance by this is barely measurable. I am simply arguing that while it is generally a good idea to uses exec, it is not that important, and certainly not required. In fact it might give you some unexpected effects, if exec is used on anything else than the last command in a script. - Sten Anderson -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .