[lug] Lock files....

[Michael J. Hammel]

Thus spoke Grissom
> Good question.  I am wondering the same.  I keep finding a lock file in my
> $HOME/.netscape directory whenever I open more than one window of
> Netscape.  Whats that all about?

Lock files are usually ordinary files created by a program as a way of
preventing multiple instances of a program from accessing a given resource.
For Netscape, it prevents a second instance of Netscape from mucking with
the netscape cache.  For lpr, it prevents two instances of the printer daemon 
from attempting to talk to the printer at the same time.  

There are many methods for preventing two or more instances of a program
from using the same resource at the same time.  Lock files are just one
such method.
-- 
Michael J. Hammel                               The Graphics Muse 
mjhammel at graphics-muse.org                      http://www.graphics-muse.com
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