time and date

[Tom H]

On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 12:30 PM, JD <jd1008 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 01/16/2013 09:12 AM, Tom H wrote:
>> On Wed, Jan 16, 2013 at 10:45 AM, Oliver Grawert <ogra at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>>> Am Mittwoch, den 16.01.2013, 08:29 -0600 schrieb Cybe R. Wizard:
>>>> On Wed, 16 Jan 2013 15:04:22 +0100
>>>> Oliver Grawert <ogra at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I think ntp is a daemon and set of utilities, not a server:
>>>>
>>>> (ntp)
>>>> "This package contains the NTP daemon and utility programs.  An NTP
>>>> daemon needs to be running on each host that is to have its clock
>>>> accuracy controlled by NTP. ...  An NTP
>>>> daemon needs to be running on each host that is to have its clock
>>>> accuracy controlled by NTP."
>>>>
>>>> One would run it in order to have the correct time set on their
>>>> computer.  Why would one /not/ want it on a default installation?
>>>>
>>>> that said, there /is/ ntpdate, but it says, "ntpdate by itself is
>>>> useful for occasionally setting the time on machines that do not have
>>>> full-time network access, such as laptops," so, unless the b ox is
>>>> connected full time, ntp.
>>>
>>> ntpd runs constantly, occupying constant resources, it opens a listening
>>> port to the outside world by default which opens a possible attack
>>> vector ...
>>>
>>> ntpdate simply syncs with ntp.ubuntu.com once you establish a network
>>> connection, unless you have a bad BIOS battery i doubt you will ever
>>> need ntp installed on a laptop/desktop to keep your clock correct.
>>>
>>> note that ntp is installed by default on ubuntu-server installs ...
>>
>> ntpdate has been deprecated. It's better to use "ntpd -q" (without
>> running ntpd as a daemon).
>
> What's the use if it is not run as a daemon?
> If it dies and never gets auto restarted, then heavy system load
> will make the clock lag behind.

I prefer that ntpd runs as a daemon. I wasn't arguing one way or
another; I was just pointing out that ntpd can be substituted for
ntpdate. AFAIR ntpdate has been deprecated because development effort
was/is focused on ntpd and ntpdate hasn't been maintained.

I don't think that running ntpd is such a strain on resources that it
shouldn't be installed by default on both desktops and servers. The
problem with ntp is that, on Debian and Ubuntu, it's both a client and
a server by default.