Re: [gentoo-user] Re: /var/tmp on tmpfs

[Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net>]

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On 02/08/2018 03:32 PM, gevisz wrote:
> In this case it would be nice to hear a reason.

I think the reason probably goes back a number of years.  When /tmp was 
made volatile (ram / swap backed) there was a need for non-volatile temp 
space.  Thus, /var/tmp was created as non-volatile specifically for the 
purpose to of surviving across reboots.  (At least that's my understanding.)

> That's why I have asked if it does not harm.

I don't think it will actually harm the Operating System.  Some daemons 
may get cross if files they know that they created no longer exist after 
a reboot.

Though things should gracefully handle the absence of such files and 
re-create them.

The biggest Ah Ha moment I ever saw someone have was when they spent 
more than an hour getting a Solaris patch cluster to the machine, 
extracted it to /tmp, rebooted into single user mode, and went where the 
$&#* is the patch cluster?  That's when someone more experienced asked 
them where they put it and got to educate them on the error of their ways.

I doubt that having /var/tmp be volatile will actually break things. 
But it will likely cause unexpected behavior.  IMHO the biggest unknown 
is if you will be caught by or adversely effected by said unknown.

Seeing as how we're talking Linux, Gentoo in specific, you are likely 
power users and configure your systems the way that /you/ want them to 
be.  So, by all means, do what you want.

I just want to give you some data so that you can make an informed decision.



-- 
Grant. . . .
unix || die


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