Autologout of unused terminals

[Der Tynan]

In article <201.nlunix6 at orcenl.uucp> bengsig at orcenl.uucp (Bjorn Engsig) writes:
>Is there any way to see if a terminal has not been used for some time,
>and if it hasn't, to send a hangup to the processes there?

	Look for dust on the keyboard.  That's an obvious sign :-)
	Seriously though, I've seen at least three such programs
	posted to comp.sources.  A quick check through the UUNET
	archives shows ~ftp/comp.sources.unix/volume3/idledaemon.Z
	If you don't have access to a c.s.u archive, let me know,
	and I'll send you the 'shar' file.

In article <8978 at smoke.BRL.MIL>, gwyn at smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn ) writes:
> Try that around here and you may get stomped on!
> 
> Just why this is a BAD idea has been spelled out many times before
> and need not be repeated.

Hmm, Doug.  I don't think he was asking whether or not it was a good idea.
All he wants is the software.  Anyway, I don't mind if you spell it out
one more time.  I'd like to know why it is better to leave Joe User's
account available for a passer-by, than to kill it.  A lot of UN*X sites
I've seen have a lot of users who leave themselves logged in, indefinitely.
In fact, the only time they actually log in, is after the system has crashed!
I guess it's paranoia that the boss actually audits the accounting files, to
see what time they got in at :-).  Anyway, perhaps you'd like to let me know
why it's such a terrible sin to kill these jobs.
						- Der
-- 
	dtynan at zorba.Tynan.COM  (Dermot Tynan @ Tynan Computers)
	{apple,mips,pyramid,uunet}!Tynan.COM!dtynan

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