tail does not exit

[Chuck Swiger]

On Dec 19, 2007, at 4:06 PM, Mikhail Teterin wrote:
> Josh Tolbert:
>> Cause the -f option to tail doesn't work that way. -f always waits  
>> for more
>> input.
>
> I know very well about -f waiting for more *input*. What puzzles me,  
> is that
> tail does not quit, when its *output* is closed.
>
> James Harrison:
>> Is there a reason you want the -f flag?
>
> Yes, I want awk to be processing the lines, which are appended to  
> the file,
> until it finds, what it is looking for, and exits. I expect tail to  
> go away,
> when its stdout is closed, but it does not.
>
>> tail -f holds on for dear life until a ctrl-c happens. IT HAS A DEATH
>> GRIP!
>
> This seems like a bug to me... It should hold on to its input  
> file(s), but
> exit peacefully, when its stdout closes. No?

A quick test suggests that "tail -f" will close when it gets a SIGPIPE.

-- 
-Chuck