> This setting works for ssh, xterm etc. between *BSD/Mac and I > think Linux (Windows forcibly terminates everything when the > link goes down -- there may be a setting to disable keepalives > but I try not to know more about Windows). > > From RFC1122: > > 4.2.3.6 TCP Keep-Alives > > Implementors MAY include "keep-alives" in their TCP > implementations, although this practice is not universally > accepted. If keep-alives are included, the application MUST > be able to turn them on or off for each TCP connection, and > they MUST default to off.
read the section on timers. if you don't do keep-alives, then your session will timeout if there's no traffic. keep-alives do not affect timers. - erik
