'updatedb' : is it really mandatory, can I switch it off and how ?!

[Eric Dunbar]

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 21:50:32 -0500, JohnOfArc <yustabeme at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> On Sat, 27 Nov 2004 11:45:55 -0500, Eric Dunbar wrote:
> 
> > Vince, slocate only runs once a day (which would explain why it seems to
> > me that locate is usually out-of-date) so it wouldn't be causing disk
> > chatter (a quick check in WebMin shows that slocate runs at 06:25...
> > which I should probably change b/c, unless these jobs are run the next
> > time Ubuntu is activated, they'll never run!)
> >
> that's what "anacron" is for; from man anacron:
> 
> DESCRIPTION
> 
>        Anacron can be used to execute commands periodically, with a
>        frequency specified in days.  Unlike cron(8), it does not assume
>        that the machine is running contin- uously.   Hence,  it can be
>        used on machines that aren't running 24 hours a day, to control
>        daily, weekly, and monthly jobs that are usually controlled by
>        cron.

Thanks for the heads up.

So why isn't anacron used instead of cron noawadays?

I realise that *nix got started as a server OS but now it's morphing
into a desktop OS and, unless you're running a server, the computer
ought to go to sleep or be turned off to conserve energy  (I suspect
that there are now probably more desktop installs than server installs
of *nix).

Eric.