[Python-Dev] Status of thread cancellation

[Jon Ribbens]

Nick Maclaren <nmm1 at cus.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> Well, I have seen it hundreds of times on a dozen different Unices;
> it is very common.  You don't always SEE the stuck process - sometimes
> the 'kill -9' causes the pid to become invisible to ps etc., and
> just occasionally it can continue to use CPU until the system is
> rebooted.

You're describing something caused by a buggy operating system.
I have never seen any modern Unix exhibit any of the behaviours
you describe. I have seen such things in the 1990's though.