[Python-Dev] Two random and nearly unrelated ideas

[Skip Montanaro]

While adding a blurb to Misc/NEWS about the change to the thread ticker and
check interval, it occurred to me that perhaps Misc/NEWS would benefit from
conversion to ReST format.  You could pump an HTML version out to the
website periodically.

Second (also considered during the above edit), it would be nice to get rid
of the ticker altogether in systems with proper signal support.  On those
platforms couldn't an alarm replace polling for the ticker?  I know signals
are tricky devils, but it still seems it would be a win if you could use it.
You'd have to install a SIGALRM handler which would trip periodically.  It
would also have to keep track of any alarm handler the programmer installed.

Just for the heck of it I recompiled ceval.c with the (--_Py_Ticker < 0)
block ifdef'd out.  Got a 1.7% increase in pystones over the now default
checkinterval == 100 situation.

Skip