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Comment by justsomehnguy | Hacker News Reader

> You are aware that flock(1) is a thing, right?

No. Maybe I heard and even knew what it is, but I never needed it.

You know why?

My task scheduler supports running only one instance of the task so I don't need to reinvent the wheel every time I need something to run on schedule.

Just 'somebinary args args args', 'run only one instance' and I'm done.

> flock - manage locks from shell scripts

Well, yep. Reinventing the wheel each other time.

Thanks, I have some more important things (like browsing HN) than writing shitty shell scripts.

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Why is using the composable OS feature reinventing the wheel?

>Well, yep. Reinventing the wheel each other time.

Erm, no - flock(1) is a UNIX tool, a component if you will. It's the exact opposite of reinventing the wheel.

Not understanding the operating system you're using is fine, but it's good to at least know what you don't know.

> It's the exact opposite of reinventing the wheel.

If I need to write a wrapper script each time I need to run a task on a timer - then it is the proverbial reinventing the wheel. It doesn't matter if you call it a tool, utility or a component. Especially if this was solved decades ago.

> Not understanding the operating system you're using is fine

Ah, another mighty UNIX wizard here.

>If I need to write a wrapper script

And there's your problem - you don't realize "writing a wrapper script" is actually simpler than messing with config files.

The 'problem' here is you, serving the machine. I prefer the machine to serve me.

Using utilities included with your OS is not the machine serving you?

Using obsolete utilities for the sake of 'doing the right UNIX way' instead of just ticking a checkbox/adding one line in the task configuration?

Come on, I would repeat it again - it was solved for decades. Why do you need to do the things like it's 1976? Why do you insist everyone else should do that way too and abandon the fruits of the digital age?

Why would you use something other than cron for many types of tasks? Not everyone needs a distributed system to run a script periodically, they want to actually get things done. :)

> Why do you need to do the things like it's 1976?

It was solved decades ago: in 1976. I don't understand why you feel like it wasn't.

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