[Python-ideas] Draft PEP: Standard daemon process library

[Ben Finney]

Bill Janssen <janssen at parc.com> writes:

> There are a number of Unix-only modules for this purpose already,
> aren't there? I see at least three of them on PyPI, including yours,
> Ben.

Yes, none of which meet the criteria listed in the PEP for
“well-behaved daemon”. They're useful, to be sure; but they're lacking
when judged against what a well-behaved Unix daemon should be doing.

> What's the point of a new one?

Perhaps I've mistakenly given the impression that I'm re-inventing the
wheel; sorry for that false impression if so.

To implement this PEP fully, I've taken the existing implementation
that was closest to the requirements (‘bda.daemon’), and based this
work on altering it to conform with this PEP. I'm in active
correspondence with the author of ‘bda.daemon’.

> And what's the point of adding a new Unix-only module to the stdlib?

To have this common, fairly standardised but tricky, use case
implemented once and easily available to any Python programmer,
without them needing to know the fine details of what's required to
make it work internally.

Having multiple partial implementations in PyPI and the Cookbook leads
only to the situation where a prospective user has to either know
intimate details of this rather fiddly task to judge each of them, or
make a choice arbitrarily.

-- 
 \      “I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I |
  `\   like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.” —Bilbo |
_o__)                                                          Baggins |
Ben Finney