Name

idle — make process 0 idle

Synopsis

#include <unistd.h>
int idle( void);  
 

DESCRIPTION

idle() is an internal system call used during bootstrap. It marks the process's pages as swappable, lowers its priority, and enters the main scheduling loop. idle() never returns.

Only process 0 may call idle(). Any user process, even a process with superuser permission, will receive EPERM.

RETURN VALUE

idle() never returns for process 0, and always returns −1 for a user process.

ERRORS

EPERM

Always, for a user process.

VERSIONS

Since 2.3.13 this system call does not exist anymore.

CONFORMING TO

This function is Linux-specific, and should not be used in programs intended to be portable.

COLOPHON

This page is part of release 3.24 of the Linux man-pages project. A description of the project, and information about reporting bugs, can be found at http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/.


Copyright 1993 Rickard E. Faith (faithcs.unc.edu)
Portions extracted from linux/mm/swap.c:
               Copyright (C) 1991, 1992  Linus Torvalds

Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.

Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
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permission notice identical to this one.

Since the Linux kernel and libraries are constantly changing, this
manual page may be incorrect or out-of-date.  The author(s) assume no
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the use of the information contained herein.  The author(s) may not
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Formatted or processed versions of this manual, if unaccompanied by
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Modified 21 Aug 1994 by Michael Chastain <mecshell.portal.com>:
  Added text about calling restriction (new in kernel 1.1.20 I believe).
  N.B. calling "idle" from user process used to hang process!
Modified Thu Oct 31 14:41:15 1996 by Eric S. Raymond <esrthyrsus.com>
"