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Re: The .xsession-errors problem

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	Hi.

On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 06:35:45PM +0200, Teemu Likonen wrote:
> It seems that ~/.xsession-errors file can still grow to infinity in
> size. Sometimes it grows really fast. This is nothing new: we have all
> seen it and talked about it. What do you do to maintain this file?
> 
>   - Do you just delete it when you happen to notice it's too big?

I used custom logrotate config, and then it dawned on me (see below).

>   - Do you configure some rotating system, perhaps with logrotate(8)?
>     (Why doesn't Debian have this automatically?)

For Debian, it may work. For RHEL, for instance, such logrotate policy
would be denied by SELinux.
That, and inviting running-as-root logrotate to cleanup user files opens
all kinds of trouble.

>   - Do you add it to your backup system's ignore list so that a
>     potentially big file doesn't fill your backups?

Nope, there's no need to.

>   - What do Debian documentation and faq lists teach about maintaining
>     this potentially huge file?

Prevent such writes in the first place. Hack /etc/X11/Xsession, replace
logging to a file to logging to syslog. A simple one-liner will do:

exec 1> >(/usr/bin/logger -e -t xsession-$USER -p user.notice) 2>&1

If you don't need all these extra messages in /var/log/messages - just
write a simple rsyslogd filter.

>   - Why is it normal that in Debian (and GNU/Linux) you need to manually
>     delete a hidden file to keep it from filling your hard disks?

I fail to see the difference between .xsession-errors and some user-run
(cr)application logfile. Both can fill all the filesystem that you're
throwing at it.

Reco

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Thread

The .xsession-errors problem Teemu Likonen <tlikonen@iki.fi> - 2020-10-26 17:50 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem Reco <recoverym4n@enotuniq.net> - 2020-10-26 18:10 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem Teemu Likonen <tlikonen@iki.fi> - 2020-10-27 16:10 +0100
      Re: The .xsession-errors problem rhkramer@gmail.com - 2020-10-27 20:20 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem Sven Joachim <svenjoac@gmx.de> - 2020-10-26 18:20 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem Teemu Likonen <tlikonen@iki.fi> - 2020-10-26 19:10 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2020-10-26 19:30 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem Tixy <tixy@yxit.co.uk> - 2020-10-27 00:10 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2020-10-27 00:30 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2020-10-27 13:00 +0100
      Re: The .xsession-errors problem Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2020-10-27 14:50 +0100
        Re: The .xsession-errors problem David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> - 2020-10-28 05:30 +0100
          Re: The .xsession-errors problem Andrei POPESCU <andreimpopescu@gmail.com> - 2020-10-28 12:50 +0100
          Re: The .xsession-errors problem Celejar <celejar@gmail.com> - 2020-10-28 19:40 +0100
            Re: The .xsession-errors problem David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> - 2020-10-29 00:10 +0100
              Re: The .xsession-errors problem Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2020-10-29 19:30 +0100
                Re: The .xsession-errors problem David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> - 2020-10-30 01:00 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2020-10-27 01:00 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem David <bouncingcats@gmail.com> - 2020-10-27 01:30 +0100
      Re: The .xsession-errors problem Greg Wooledge <wooledg@eeg.ccf.org> - 2020-10-27 13:00 +0100
        Re: The .xsession-errors problem David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> - 2020-10-29 18:40 +0100
  Re: The .xsession-errors problem Anders Andersson <pipatron@gmail.com> - 2020-11-01 11:20 +0100
    Re: The .xsession-errors problem Teemu Likonen <tlikonen@iki.fi> - 2020-11-01 17:50 +0100
      Re: The .xsession-errors problem Kenneth Parker <sea7kenp@gmail.com> - 2020-11-01 18:40 +0100

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