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mojodaddy
As a matter of fact, I spent a few hours grappling with daemontools, and it's a perfect example of the freakishly opaque "explanations" I described in my original post. Here's its FAQ entry for the question "How do I create a service directory?":
<p>
<b>Answer: The only required component of your service directory is an executable file, ./run, that runs your daemon in the foreground, exiting when your daemon exits.
</b>
<p>
Huh? Does that mean <i>I'm</i> supposed to create ./run? And if so, what is it? And how, exactly, do I create it? The FAQ says:
<p>
<b>Typically ./run is a shell script. For example:<p>
#!/bin/sh<br>
echo starting<br>
exec clockspeed
</b>
<p>"Typically?" So is my situation typical? How can I tell? And if ./run is a shell script in a typical case, what is it in <i>other</i> cases?
<p>
So let's assume that I am supposed to write a shell script (which in my case would execute my perl script?) and save it as ./run in my service directory. But if so, why not just <i>say so?</i> Plus, would it kill them to explain how? It's like if I said, "How is a moon-rock different from a regular rock?" and they said "OK, first go to the moon and get some rocks, and I'll tell you the rest when you get back..."
<p>
Of course the reality is that if the daemontools FAQ had been anything less than completely baffling, I wouldn't have written my solution, in which case I would never had received a personal response from merlyn! So it's all good. : )
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