PMSD(8) 						      System Manager's Manual							   PMSD(8)

NAME

       pmsd - Periodically Manic System Daemon. Manages the bizzare and sometimes unexplainable behavior exhibited by computers.

SYNOPSIS

       pmsd [-bcfmp]

DESCRIPTION

       pmsd is a rogue daemon that is spawned on a semi-regular schedule by init(8).  Most of the unusual and quirky behavior associated with mis-
       behaving computers can be attributed to pmsd.

       pmsd has a number of command-line options, invoked at run-time by init(8).   The  ps(1)	command  will  occasionally  display  the  current
       options, but only if pmsd feels like revealing them. This is usually not the case. pmsd can be manually invoked by the pms(8) command. Make
       sure there is not a pmsd process already running when you use pms(8); you don't want to be on a system with multiple instances of pmsd run-
       ning.

       With no flags, pmsd runs with the default -m option, and any others it feels like using.

OPTIONS

       -b     Bloat. Files randomly grow in size, filling up filesystems and causing quotas to be exceeded.

       -c     Craving.	System becomes hungry, eating magnetic tapes, CD-ROM discs, floppies, and anything else a hapless user loads into a remov-
	      able media drive.

       -f     Fatigue. System will pause for a random period of time. It is important to leave the system alone during this time. Attempts to coax
	      the machine into normal operation could cause the spontaneous activation of all command-line switches. This is to be avoided.

       -m     Mood  swings.  Process priorities and nice values are altered randomly. Swapping usually occurs with no warning, even when memory is
	      available. This is the default behavior.

       -p     Peeved. One or more users are selected as targets of the system's anger.	Files are deleted, e-mail copied  to  /etc/motd,  and  any
	      Usenet articles posted by the targets are crossposted to misc.test and alt.flame.

NOTES

       When pmsd is invoked by using the pms(8) command, pmsd ignores any command-line switches and does what it damned well pleases.

SEE ALSO

       pms(8)

BUGS

       There are no bugs; how could you ask that?

HISTORY

       Written by Eric L. Pederson <eric@bofh.org.uk>.

								   25 March 1996							   PMSD(8)