CompuServe Messages

Steve, Unix by design requires an orderly shutdown of the system, rather than merely pulling the plug. The file-systems are "marked" by the shutdown procedure so that they can be restarted safely/quicker when you boot the system. Otherwise, the boot procedure will run (almost) the equivalent of Disksalv on all of the file systems on startup. If you simply turn off the machine without the shutdown, upon reboot the system thinks it is restarting after a crash, and therefore assumes that things are not necessarily in one piece, which is why it needs to revalidate everything. On systems where reliability is very desirable (i.e., multi-user systems where file system problems can wreak real havoc), having this kind of safeguards designed in can be quite desirable. However, it does have its costs (as does most "protection" designs, like memory protection). – BobR (Motorola Inside!)