How to safely maintain a status file

[Rick Johnson]

On Jul 12, 2:39 pm, Christian Heimes <li... at cheimes.de> wrote:
> Windows's file system layer is not POSIX compatible. For example
> you can't remove or replace a file while it is opened by a process.

Sounds like a reasonable fail-safe to me. Not much unlike a car
ignition that will not allow starting the engine if the transmission
is in any *other* gear besides "park" or "neutral", OR a governor (be
it mechanical or electrical) that will not allow the engine RPMs to
exceed a maximum safe limit, OR even, ABS systems which "pulse" the
brakes to prevent overzealous operators from loosing road-to-tire
traction when decelerating the vehicle.

You could say: "Hey, if someone is dumb enough to shoot themselves in
the foot then let them"... however, sometimes fail-safes not only save
the dummy from a life of limps, they also prevent catastrophic
"collateral damage" to rest of us.