Tim Bray provides Apple some instructions onhow to update files containing important data (like iCal calendars). Hisdirections are fine at a high level, but they're actually not quitedetailed enough to implement from.

So here's how you safely update Unix files:

1. create a new scratch file in the same directory as the target file(ideally mode 0600).
2. write the data to it; optionally fsync() ; optionally verify thedata.
3. copy the current version's permissions to the

I've been thinking about ways around the practical cost of forking inPython . There's two common alternatives: preforkingservers and threads in general. However, both of them have issues thatmake me unhappy with them.

The best setup for a preforking SCGI server is a central dispatcher thatparcels new connections out to a pool of worker processes; this requiresthe ability to pass file descriptors to other processes. While Unix cando this (with SCM_RIGHTS messages over Unix domain sockets), Pythondoesn'