Steve,

On Thu, 13 Mar 2008, [log in to unmask] wrote:

> Troy,
>
> SL_firefox_parentlock_fix doesn't work for us... if we start firefox
> w/ a home directory in AFS and then unlog, firefox leaves behind a...
>
> ~/.mozilla/firefox/<APP_FOLDER>/lock -> <ipaddr>.+<pid_of_firefox>
>
> sym link.  And note that, eg, /usr/lib/firefox-1.5.0.7/init.d/S01parentlock
> reads...
>
> if [ ! -L "$APP_FOLDER/$i/lock" -a -e "$APP_FOLDER/$i/.parentlock" ]; then
>       rm -f "$APP_FOLDER/$i/.parentlock"
> fi
>
> Please advise?  Thanks.

the "lock" problem has been with us since the netscape4 days. If you "kill 
-9" your browser or do something else preventing it from cleaning up 
behind it (like, revoking its rights to write to the filesystem storing 
the lock file by running "unlog"), you're left with a stale lock. Users 
should be familiar with that and know how to clean up the lock.

SL_firefox_parentlock_fix deals with a different problem, introduced a 
while ago when firefox started relying on what exactly happens when you 
close a locked file (.parentlock), with the then-current OpenAFS client 
not complying with that expectation.

SL_firefox_parentlock_fix has worked perfectly for us, and the current 
OpenAFS client is no longer causing this problem. What's left is the old
problem that a lock file in a shared home directory may cause effects 
that seem strange to users occasionally. If you find a silver bullet to 
shoot this problem, let the firefox developers know.

- Stephan

-- 
Stephan Wiesand
   DESY - DV -
   Platanenallee 6
   15738 Zeuthen, Germany