From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: from us-smtp-delivery-124.mimecast.com (us-smtp-delivery-124.mimecast.com [216.205.24.124]) by sourceware.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A595B3857815 for ; Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:03:48 +0000 (GMT) DMARC-Filter: OpenDMARC Filter v1.3.2 sourceware.org A595B3857815 Received: from mimecast-mx01.redhat.com (mimecast-mx01.redhat.com [209.132.183.4]) (Using TLS) by relay.mimecast.com with ESMTP id us-mta-393-zkQtQ8OMMpKl6inaoRjG6g-1; Fri, 30 Apr 2021 06:03:46 -0400 X-MC-Unique: zkQtQ8OMMpKl6inaoRjG6g-1 Received: from smtp.corp.redhat.com (int-mx08.intmail.prod.int.phx2.redhat.com [10.5.11.23]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mimecast-mx01.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id AB7B8801B12; Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:03:45 +0000 (UTC) Received: from oldenburg.str.redhat.com (ovpn-115-124.ams2.redhat.com [10.36.115.124]) by smtp.corp.redhat.com (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D107C19726; Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:03:44 +0000 (UTC) From: Florian Weimer To: Joseph Myers Cc: Adhemerval Zanella via Libc-alpha Subject: Re: [PATCH 20/52] login: Add 64-bit time support to utmp/utmpx References: <20210305201518.798584-1-adhemerval.zanella@linaro.org> <20210305201518.798584-21-adhemerval.zanella@linaro.org> <87zgxjnc3u.fsf@oldenburg.str.redhat.com> Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2021 12:03:57 +0200 In-Reply-To: (Joseph Myers's message of "Tue, 27 Apr 2021 18:03:33 +0000") Message-ID: <87k0ok84xe.fsf@oldenburg.str.redhat.com> User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/27.2 (gnu/linux) MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.84 on 10.5.11.23 X-Mimecast-Spam-Score: 0 X-Mimecast-Originator: redhat.com Content-Type: text/plain X-Spam-Status: No, score=-6.5 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, DKIMWL_WL_HIGH, DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VALID, DKIM_VALID_AU, DKIM_VALID_EF, RCVD_IN_DNSWL_LOW, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_H4, RCVD_IN_MSPIKE_WL, SPF_HELO_NONE, SPF_PASS, TXREP autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.2 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.2 (2018-09-13) on server2.sourceware.org X-BeenThere: libc-alpha@sourceware.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.29 Precedence: list List-Id: Libc-alpha mailing list List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 30 Apr 2021 10:03:49 -0000 * Joseph Myers: > On Tue, 27 Apr 2021, Florian Weimer via Libc-alpha wrote: > >> The interface was fine when a system had a few fixed terminal lines that >> weren't equivalent. But I think it's mostly useless today. > > At a higher level, I think it's still useful to be able to list logged-in > user sessions (and e.g. how long they have been idle) on a multi-user > system, to help identify e.g. users to consult about a possible reboot. > In the absence of utmp, you need some other system for tracking such > information about sessions, and applications such as "w" and "who" need to > be taught to use such other API in place of utmp, before it can be > considered obsolete. True, but even for that, it's been reported (I forgot where I'm afraid) that the ut_id field is to short if the straightforward PTY encoding is used. Most users are probably interested in sessions (who is not logged in), not a list of PTYs and users (which also includes sub-shells in Emacs and screen). Thanks, Florian