From acbfebeb8d22a87b76fae32d8d9bf0473e178fdf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Jim Meyering Date: Mon, 23 May 2011 16:09:42 +0200 Subject: doc: describe how kernel inotify support affects tail -f * doc/coreutils.texi (tail invocation) [-f]: Mention how inotify kernel support makes a difference. Prompted by http://bugzilla.redhat.com/662900 --- doc/coreutils.texi | 5 +++++ 1 file changed, 5 insertions(+) diff --git a/doc/coreutils.texi b/doc/coreutils.texi index 289c0baae..dfaf4c9ce 100644 --- a/doc/coreutils.texi +++ b/doc/coreutils.texi @@ -2830,6 +2830,11 @@ no @var{file} operand is specified and standard input is a FIFO or a pipe. Likewise, the @option{-f} option has no effect for any operand specified as @samp{-}, when standard input is a FIFO or a pipe. +With kernel inotify support, output is asynchronous and generally very prompt. +Otherwise, @command{tail} sleeps for one second between checks--- +use @option{--sleep-interval=@var{N}} to change that default---which can +make the output appear slightly less responsive or bursty. + @item -F @opindex -F This option is the same as @option{--follow=name --retry}. That is, tail -- cgit v1.2.3-54-g00ecf