cron/anacron

[Frank McCormick]

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On Thu, 11 May 2006 15:45:00 +0100
Toby Kelsey <toby_kelsey at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> Alan McKinnon wrote:
> > On Wednesday 10 May 2006 03:36, Frank McCormick wrote:
> > 
> 
> 
> It should have such software installed as default.  fcron can do this (although
> it is still limited/buggy), and in the future either that or a fixed version of
> Vixie cron might become the standard cron.  It is a pity Ubuntu has adopted the
> incompatible anacron and caused problems, but no distribution is perfect.
> 
> Here are the common job requirements standard cron should handle:
> 
> 1) Run at a specific time, otherwise forget it, eg an alarm.
> 2) Run at a specific time if possible, otherwise as soon after as possible, eg
> reminders.
> 3) Run during some period, the exact time doesnt matter, eg backup overnight.
> 4) Run periodically, the timing doesnt matter, eg log rotation.
> 5) Run a one-off job at a specified time (this is covered by 'at')
> 
> Anacron can only do (4), while the most useful function is (2).  The software
> that comes closest to this functionality is fcron. Ubuntu should use it as
> standard once the bugs are ironed out.  The fact that a core utility breaks when
> a machine is turned off and on should not be acceptable for a user-friendly
> distribution like Ubuntu.
> 
> > cron was designed to run on machines that are up all the time. No sane 
> > developer is going to try and extend it - it works, it works well and 
> > it ain't broke.
> 
> Actually most versions of cron have always failed to cope with changes to the
> clock even with an always-on machine, and all machines have down-time which cron
> ought to be able to handle but doesn't.  The manual administrative interventions
> this then requires is something I thought Ubuntu wanted to avoid.
> 
> > The /etc/cron.*ly files have nothing whatsoever to do with cron or 
> > anacron.
> 
> I suppose in some bizarro world /etc/cron.monthly could have nothing to do with
> cron or anacron in the same way that /etc/login.defs could have nothing to do
> with login. But names have meanings, and we are in real world:
> 
> $ dpkg -S /etc/cron.monthly
> scrollkeeper, anacron, cron: /etc/cron.monthly
> 
> Note also that run-parts (debianutils) is not mentioned.



   As you probably realize I am  on your side :)
- -- 
Cheers

Frank

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