Hi there, FAQ 4's title is "4 - OpenBSD 5.7 Installation Guide"
/var/tmp is listed as "now a symbolic link to /tmp" in the "Security improvements" section of http://www.openbsd.org/57.html Here's a first attempt at rewording, which might need improvements: --- faq4.html Tue Aug 25 18:16:19 2015 +++ faq4-no-var-tmp.html Tue Aug 25 18:41:43 2015 @@ -2132,15 +2132,22 @@ <li><b>/tmp:</b> This is a world-writeable directory used for (as the name implies!) -temporary storage. -Most systems can get by with very modest amounts of storage here, 50M is -usually many times what you should ever need, though there are a few -applications which can use much, much more. +temporary storage. For example, +<a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=vi&sektion=1";>vi(1)</a> +uses this directory for temporary storage, +so if the computer crashes or is rebooted while editing a file, +the files here can be used to recover the editing session. +Most systems can get by with very modest amounts of storage here, +50M is usually many times what you should ever need, +though there are a few applications which can use much, much more. While this directory is world-writable, when it is a separate partition, -OpenBSD defaults to mounting it nodev and nosuid, which minimizes how -it can be used to abuse your system. -Files left unattended here will be purged automatically, this is NOT for -long term storage! +OpenBSD defaults to mounting it nodev and nosuid, +which minimizes how it can be used to abuse your system. +Files left unattended here will be purged automatically at +<a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=rc&sektion=8";>boot</a> +and +<a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=daily&sektion=8";>daily(8)</a>. +This is NOT for long term storage! <li><b>/var:</b> This directory and mount point is used for a LOT of things, and depending @@ -2151,20 +2158,12 @@ <li><tt>/var/mail</tt>: Incoming mail boxes. <li><tt>/var/spool</tt>: Outgoing mail (and other things) <li><tt>/var/www</tt>: OpenBSD's web server lives here. - <li><tt>/var/tmp</tt>: This is a "persistent" temporary file directory, - as files placed here are NOT purged on reboot. - For example, vi(1) uses this directory for temporary storage, so - if your computer crashes or is rebooted while you are editing a file, - the files here can be used to recover your editing session. - Files left here over 24 hours though will be purged by the nightly - cleanup scripts, - <a href="http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=daily&sektion=8";>daily(8)</a>. - <li><tt>/var/crash</tt>: If the system panics, it will attempt to + <li><tt>/var/crash</tt>: If the system panics, it will attempt to save a core dump in the swap partition before rebooting. This core dump will then be saved to <tt>/var/crash</tt> upon reboot, so <tt>/var</tt> will need at least as much free space as the system has RAM for this to work automatically. - </ul> +</ul> <li><b>/usr:</b> This is where most of OpenBSD resides. @@ -2272,11 +2271,10 @@ partitions. This is another reason we suggest using <a href="faq15.html#PkgMgmt">pre-compiled packages</a> instead. - <li>At least some editors use <tt>/var/tmp</tt> for scratch space, and + <li>At least some editors use <tt>/tmp</tt> for scratch space, and this often needs to be as big or bigger than the largest file you edit. - If you plan on editing 500M files, your <tt>/var</tt> or - <tt>/var/tmp</tt> partition will need to be much larger than your - might have planned on. + If you plan on editing 500M files, your <tt>/tmp</tt> partition will + need to be much larger than your might have planned on. </ul>
