Matt, I have let the users test the xterminator program today without their knowledge :-)
So far I have not had a single stale process left, or a single complaint about login problems. The only thing I noticed is that login time increased significantly (if you consider around 5 seconds considerable :-) I used to click login and was immediately presented the edubuntu splash then my desktop, now I have a blank screen for around 5 seconds then see things as normal. I assume there is no way around this and don't see it as a big deal as long as all the other problems have been fixed. Jim On Mon, 3 Sep 2007 17:37:00 -0400, Matt Oquist wrote > I've written a program named 'xterminator' to provide the > functionality of purge_user in edubuntu. This is ready for *testing* > now, so if you want to help me test it please add the following two > lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list file: > > ------------------------------------------ > deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/moquist/ubuntu feisty universe > deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/moquist/ubuntu feisty universe > ------------------------------------------ > This package will work fine on gutsy as well; just use these same two > lines. The following commands will add those lines to the right file: > > $ sudo echo deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/moquist/ubuntu feisty universe >> /etc/apt/sources.list > $ sudo echo deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/moquist/ubuntu feisty universe > >> > /etc/apt/sources.list > > Then: > $ sudo apt-get update > $ sudo apt-get install xterminator > > xterminator kills ALL of a user's [other] processes when she first > starts an X session. After she terminates her X session, there is > a short delay and all her remaining processes are killed, and then > xterminator exits. > > All this killing of processes is logged in /var/log/syslog. > > I would like to add a config file that lets the administrator specify > whether the killing should happen only at login, only after logout, or > both. But that's not done yet. > > Note the following: > * If you have this on your system, each user can only have one login > session at a time. If you have kids sharing usernames & passwords > then they'll be kicking each other out. (This is part of why the > syslogging is important; it provides more data about what may be > happening when your users complain that their computers crash...) > * If your users depend on cron jobs, ssh sessions, or any other type > of persistent process that runs before, after, or outside > a graphical login session, then xterminator will kill those > processes, too. In fact, a good addition to the config file might be > a list of process names *NOT* to kill, ever. > * If the effective UID of an xterminator process is 0 (i.e., if root > runs 'xterminator', it exits immediately. Oh...but the message it > prints should be to stderr, not stdout. One more thing to fix... > * If you execute xterminator on the command line, it will work there, > too. i.e., it will kill all your processes except your shell and > its ancestors, and after you exit your shell it will clean up all > your other processes on the system. > > --matt > > -- > Open Source Software Engineering Consultant > http://majen.net/ > > -- > edubuntu-devel mailing list > edubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com > Modify settings or unsubscribe at: > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-devel > > -- > This message has been scanned for viruses and > dangerous content by the Cotter Technology > Department, and is believed to be clean. Jim Kronebusch Cotter Tech Department 453-5188 -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by the Cotter Technology Department, and is believed to be clean. -- edubuntu-devel mailing list edubuntu-devel@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/edubuntu-devel