Document the limitations of calling exit() (instead of _exit()) from

a child process on Solaris.

p4raw-id: //depot/perl@27108

diff --git a/pod/perlfork.pod b/pod/perlfork.pod
index 832710a..8f3b919 100644 (file)
--- a/pod/perlfork.pod
+++ b/pod/perlfork.pod
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ waiting for after the exec().
 exit() always exits just the executing pseudo-process, after automatically
 wait()-ing for any outstanding child pseudo-processes.  Note that this means
 that the process as a whole will not exit unless all running pseudo-processes
-have exited.
+have exited.  See below for some limitations with open filehandles.
 
 =item Open handles to files, directories and network sockets
 
@@ -177,6 +177,13 @@ the seek position in the parent will change it in the child and vice-versa.
 One can avoid this by opening files that need distinct seek pointers
 separately in the child.
 
+On some operating systems, notably Solaris and Unixware, calling C<exit()>
+from a child process will flush and close open filehandles in the parent,
+thereby corrupting the filehandles.  On these systems, calling C<_exit()>
+is suggested instead.  C<_exit()> is available in Perl through the 
+C<POSIX> module.  Please consult your systems manpages for more information
+on this.
+
 =item Forking pipe open() not yet implemented
 
 The C<open(FOO, "|-")> and C<open(BAR, "-|")> constructs are not yet