Re: pg_terminate_backend() issues

Bruce Momjian wrote:
> Tom Lane wrote:
> > Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> writes:
> > >> I think if we want pg_terminate_backend, we have to do it the
> > >> way that was originally discussed: have it issue SIGTERM and fix
> > >> whatever needs to be fixed in the SIGTERM code path.
> >
> > > Well, with no movement on this TODO item since it was removed in
> > > 8.0, I am willing to give users something that works most of the
> > > time.
> >
> > If the users want it so bad, why has no one stepped up to do the
> > testing?
>
> Good question. Tom and I talked about this on the phone today.
>
> I think the problem is testing to try to prove the lack of a bug. How
> long does someone test to know they have reasonably proven a bug
> doesn't exist?

Right. I think we have *a lot* of users that regularly use SIGTERM to
kill the backends, becuase they have no idea it's dangerous. They just
use "ps" to find the backend and "kill" to see it go away.

If we had a *big* problem with it, we'd hear about it. So I doubt we
have. But it's quite possible that we have a narrow problem that can
cause problems in some issues - but I expect most people who run this
stuff without knowing it's dangerous aren't running the worlds largest
and most loaded databases...

//Magnus