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From: Muttley@DastardlyHQ.org
Newsgroups: comp.unix.programmer
Subject: Re: OT: Windows (Was: Re: Open Source does not mean easily
Date: Tue, 7 Jan 2025 08:36:29 -0000 (UTC)
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On Mon, 06 Jan 2025 16:46:56 GMT
scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wibbled:
>Muttley@DastardlyHQ.org writes:
>>On Mon, 06 Jan 2025 15:05:33 GMT
>>scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) wibbled:
>>>Muttley@DastardlyHQ.org writes:
>>>>In Windows yes, which frankly is probably not a coincidence. Not so much
>>>>in unix unless you're writing a GUI program.
>>>
>>>ASTs and unix signals have similar semantics.  It's certainly possible to
>>>use, for example, SIGIO in a similar manner to the VMS AST, where the
>>>AST signals I/O completion and the AST handler initiates a subsequent
>>>operation.
>>
>>Unix signals should only be used to set flags that are then read later. 
>
>You're opinion is not widely shared.   Note that the POSIX specification
>carefully notes which interfaces are not signal-safe.

ITYF it is VERY widely shared and having a signal safe API function is only
step 2 - plenty of the functions in the program itself or 3rd party library
functions are probably not re-entrant safe and even if they are, having
code stomp over itself - eg if in the middle of writing a log message then a 
signal is generated which tried to write a log message itself - is a very
poor way to write code.