ntploggps/ntplogtemp: Cron vs Daemon

[Gary E. Miller]

Yo Richard!

On Mon, 9 Feb 2026 14:13:47 -0600
Richard Laager via devel <devel at ntpsec.org> wrote:

> Is there a particular and/or good reason that, in upstream NTPsec, 
> ntploggps and ntplogtemp are run from cron/systemd timers as opposed
> to run as daemons (i.e. from a sysvinit script / systemd service)?

No reason at all.  There is no consensus amoung distros about how
to run daemons. So NTPSec leaves it up to each distro, or user, to
decide.

> That is, instead of running them with `-o` every 5 minutes, why not
> have them be long-running with `-w 300`?

The reason I prefer -o, is so that the daemon's do not need to be 
restarted on every code update.  For users that rarely update their
code, that is no benefit.  

Another reason may be to save memory on smaller systems.  No need to
have a daemon hanging around, using RAM, when it only runs every 5 mins.

> This was pointed out to me in a Debian bug. I am tentatively planning
> on switching them to run as daemons.

Your distro, your choice.  I see no reason why NTPSec cares how you
run it.  Just that you do run it.

RGDS
GARY
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gary E. Miller Rellim 109 NW Wilmington Ave., Suite E, Bend, OR 97703
	gem at rellim.com  Tel:+1 541 382 8588

	    Veritas liberabit vos. -- Quid est veritas?
    "If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." - Lord Kelvin
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 283 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <https://lists.ntpsec.org/pipermail/devel/attachments/20260209/4a834699/attachment.bin>