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[Bug 1430620] Re: gnome-terminal writes excessively to /tmp (affecting SSD drives)

To: desktop-packages@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
From: Egmont Koblinger <egmont@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 11:17:00 -0000
Reply-to: Bug 1430620 <1430620@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sender: bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Vte stores the scrollback buffer's contents on disk, that's what you see
there. See https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=631685,
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=664611 (and maybe a few other
mainstream Gnome bugreports) about discussions and rationale why this
was chosen. Quick summary: Running out of disk space is much less likely
and effects the system less badly than running out of RAM, and your RAM
would eventually make it into the disk (swap) anyways. And this is the
only reasonable approach that allowed to implement unlimited scrollback.

Note that vte-0.40 will compress and encrypt these files, shrinking its
data size (and hence extending SSD lifespan) by a factor of ~3-4x and
also invalidating the privacy / data leakage concerns.  This version
will hopefully make it into Ubuntu 15.10 Whichever Wildanimal :)

As for SSD lifespan: I'm not really up to date, but a quick search
suggests that it's not really an issue. E.g. this random article
http://betanews.com/2014/12/05/modern-ssds-can-last-a-lifetime/ says
you'd have to write 574 GB/day for 10 years, this is pretty much the
maximum vte can produce anyways (on my Core i3 computer, cat'ing my 42
MB test file takes ~8.5 seconds, that's 420 GB per 85000 seconds), so
you'd have to continuously produce output that drives the terminal to
its maximum throughput for years.

That being said, I'm really not familiar with SSD lifetime issues so you
might have better insight why my estimation above was wrong. In that
case could you please support it with data, rather than just a feeling
that it's writing too much?

** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #631685
   https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=631685

** Bug watch added: GNOME Bug Tracker #664611
   https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=664611

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1430620

Title:
  gnome-terminal writes excessively to /tmp (affecting SSD drives)

Status in vte package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  1) In a gnome-terminal run "sudo fatrace -f W -t" (filter for writes plus timestamps).
  2) In another window cat a file to the screen.
  3) Observe the activity.  I see large churn on the /tmp partitition:

  20:41:24.158837 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.158837 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.159268 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.159268 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.159674 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.159674 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160171 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160171 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160603 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160603 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160919 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.160919 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161093 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161093 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161545 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161545 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161999 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.161999 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162447 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162447 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162825 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162825 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162899 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.162899 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.163366 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.163366 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.163817 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.163817 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164331 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164331 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164729 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164729 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164729 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.164729 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.165219 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.165219 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.165674 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.165674 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166128 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166128 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166587 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166587 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166660 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.166660 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167056 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167056 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167529 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167529 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167949 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.167949 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168451 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168451 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168524 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168524 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168889 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.168889 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.169364 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.169364 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.169808 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.169808 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170281 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170281 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170354 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170354 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170744 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.170744 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.171222 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.171222 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.171699 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.171699 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172114 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172114 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172298 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172298 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172617 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.172617 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173055 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173055 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173528 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173528 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173997 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.173997 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174286 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174286 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174470 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174470 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174908 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.174908 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.175387 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.175387 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.175808 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.175808 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176240 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176240 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176240 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176240 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176752 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.176752 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.177217 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.177217 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.177659 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.177659 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178119 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178119 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178119 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178119 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132835 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178584 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.178584 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.179053 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.179053 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132828 (deleted)
  20:41:24.184620 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:41:24.184620 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196022 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196022 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196022 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196022 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196503 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:41:24.196503 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)

  Related, but not the same:
  https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vte/+bug/865082?comments=all

  The excessive churn eventually gets flushed to disk, affecting the
  lifetime of SSD drives.

  
  Normal gnome terminal operation (no cat) results in endless streams of:
  20:44:25.107540 gnome-terminal(23352): RW /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:44:25.138015 gnome-terminal(23352): RW /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:44:25.138015 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:44:25.138108 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:44:25.138108 gnome-terminal(23352): RW /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:44:25.168764 gnome-terminal(23352): RW /tmp/#132355 (deleted)
  20:44:25.168764 gnome-terminal(23352): RW /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:44:25.168764 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132753 (deleted)
  20:44:25.168764 gnome-terminal(23352): W /tmp/#132355 (deleted)

  
  132753 is NOT the process number of the gnome-terminal.

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References

[Bug 1430620] [NEW] gnome-terminal writes excessively to /tmp (affecting SSD drives)
From: Bryce Nesbitt, 2015-03-11