[ale] bogus idel time for user

[Geoffrey Myers]

John Heim wrote:
> The problem appears on my own linux desktop too. I rebooted my machine, and 
> then did a 'who -Htu'. The results are below.  Note that for "Idle", it says 
> "old" for my login.  This is a debian squeeze machine.  It just appears as 
> if idle time means nothing for a user. I was thinking it might be like CPU 
> idle time which is the amount of time the CPU has been idel since last boot. 
> So every millisecond you're not doing something, like the time between 
> keystrokes, counts as idle time. But why would it say "old" when I just 
> logged n after rebooting? Actually, the idle time for a user as shown by 
> finger does appear to be total idle time  for a user since last reboot. 
> Useless information if there ever was any.  If you're a fast typer, you'd 
> have less idle time than a slow typer.

Idle time means the time since they last moved the mouse or entered 
something at the keyboard.

I'm surprised the 'old' entry is still there after reboot.

I generally see this when I've logged into another machine via ssh and 
the network goes down while still connected.  If I log back in, I'll see 
that 'old' entry.


> 
> $ who -Htu
> NAME     LINE         TIME         IDLE          PID COMMENT
> jheim    tty7         Jan 30 10:27  old         2190 (:0)
> jheim    pts/0        Jan 30 10:28 00:02        2451 (:0.0)
> 
> From: "Geoffrey Myers" <lists at serioustechnology.com>
> To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 9:46 AM
> Subject: Re: [ale] bogus idel time for user
> 
> 
>> Jim Kinney wrote:
>>> check the output of the last command. The who command shows currently
>>> logged in and last shows current and previous logins.
>> I find the output of:
>>
>> who -Tu
>>
>> useful.
>>
>>> On Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 10:34 AM, John Heim <john at johnheim.net
>>> <mailto:john at johnheim.net>> wrote:
>>>
>>>     Anyone know how a machine can get a bogus idel time for a user? I 
>>> have a
>>>     problem with users getting kicked off their machines for being idel
>>>     for too
>>>     long. Problem is, they just logged on. If I finger user, it shows he
>>>     logged
>>>     on today but his idle time is 39 days. That's a problem because I
>>>     have our
>>>     machines configured to log people out if they are idel for more than
>>>     4 days.
>>>     How can a user have been idel for 39 days when they just logged on? I
>>>     thought maybe he was logged in more than once but who shows just one
>>>     login
>>>     for him.  Below is the output from the who and the finger commands. I
>>>     modified it slightly to hide the user's actual identity.
>>>
>>>     # who
>>>     johnsmith     tty8         Jan 30 08:32 (:0)
>>>     # finger johnsmith
>>>     Login: johnsmith                              Name: John Smith
>>>     Directory: /fac/johnsmith                    Shell: /bin/tcsh
>>>     Office:  555-5555,  555 Van Vleck
>>>     On since Mon Jan 30 08:32 (CST) on tty8 from :0
>>>       39 days idle
>>>         (messages off)
>>>     No mail.
>>>     No Plan.
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -- 
>>> -- 
>>> James P. Kinney III
>>>
>>> As long as the general population is passive, apathetic, diverted to
>>> consumerism or hatred of the vulnerable, then the powerful can do as
>>> they please, and those who survive will be left to contemplate the 
>>> outcome.
>>> - ////2011 Noam Chomsky
>>>
>>> http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
>>> ////
>>>
>>>
>>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
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>>
>> -- 
>> Until later, Geoffrey
>>
>> "I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
>> the government from wasting the labors of the people under
>> the pretense of taking care of them."
>> - Thomas Jefferson
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> 
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-- 
Until later, Geoffrey

"I predict future happiness for America if they can prevent
the government from wasting the labors of the people under
the pretense of taking care of them."
- Thomas Jefferson