[xmonad] Slow reload

[Spencer Janssen]

On Sun, Apr 27, 2008 at 06:36:10PM +0300, Yitzchak Gale wrote:
> When xmonad needs to recompile xmonad.hs during
> a reload, that can take time. My machine is a little slow,
> and sometimes it can be under load.
> 
> Really weird things can happen In that situation.
> xmonad seems to be in limbo while the compilation
> is happening, before the red border flashes.
> 
> So, for example, let's say I press mod-Q again
> during that time. I'm using KDE, with Windows as my
> xmonad mod key. With xmonad in limbo, KDE gets the key
> press. If the current window happens to be a Konsole,
> for example, that causes the mod key to stop working
> even after the xmonad reload finishes. Very embarrassing!

This shouldn't happen.  Please give detailed steps to reproduce.

> Seems to me that xmonad ought to do the following
> on reload:
> 
> 1. Pop up a floater that says "xmonad reloading..."
> 2. Compile the config module in the background.
> Meanwhile, keep catching xmonad key events but
> ignore them.
> 3. When the compilation finishes, dismiss the floater
> and restart with the new config.
> 
> Is this possible?
> 
> Besides key presses, other interesting things can
> happen during a reload. There are probably numerous
> race conditions lurking here.

Can you name some?  I'm not aware of any potential race conditions.

Also, consider using 'xmonad --recompile'.


Cheers,
Spencer Janssen