[Pkg-sysvinit-devel] Bug#630615: Bug#630615: RAMTMP should default to no

[Petter Reinholdtsen]

[Michael Biebl]
> the default for new installations is to use RAMTMP=yes.

Hm, do not remember doing this change.  Anyone know when it happened?

> I think having RAMTMP as optional feature is great, but it should
> default to no, because this is the safer default:
> - virtual machines are usually provisioned with only the minimal
>   required amount of RAM.
> - a typical hard disk is much bigger than RAM and thus /tmp on a typical
>   installation provides much more space then RAM.
> - software using /tmp to store large amounts of data, like backup
>   programs, download managers etc.

Given that /var/tmp/ should be used for large files, and /tmp/ should
only be used for smaller temporary files that should go away when a
machine is rebooted, your argument do not really have much weight.
Those storing large files in /tmp/ is doing it wrong, and should be
changed to use /var/tmp/ instead.

Personally, I believe having /tmp/ as tmpfs by default is a good idea
and always use it my self.  Those that do not want it can disable it.

Happy hacking,
-- 
Petter Reinholdtsen