Re: news from lost+found

["James R. Van Zandt" <jrv@vanzandt.mv.com>]

S. Champ <s-champ@pacbell.net> writes:
>what exactly is lost+found for? (e.g.: how does something get put there?)

One of the things fsck checks for is orphan files - files not pointed
to by any directory entry.  When fsck finds an orphan, it adds a
corresponding directory entry in lost+found at the root of that
filesystem.  As the /etc/cron.daily/standard script explains:

   Files were found in lost+found directories. This is probably
   the result of a crash or bad shutdown, or possibly of a disk
   problem. These files may contain important information. You
   should examine them, and move them out of lost+found or delete
   them if they are not important.

I suppose the explanation ought to mention fsck.  I see that it only
checks the root filesystem, too.  I'll contact the cron maintainer in
that regard.

	   - Jim Van Zandt