Exercise 3: When Is Screen the Right Tool? — Possible Solution =============================================================== (a) A two-hour database import over SSH Good fit. This is screen's classic use: start the import inside a screen session, detach, and reattach later to check on it. A dropped connection or closed laptop no longer stops the import. (b) A web server that should start automatically at boot Poor fit. Screen sessions are started by a user and don't come back after a reboot, and nothing restarts the server if it crashes. Long-running services belong to the system's service manager (systemd on most distributions — see the systemd in Depth course), which starts them at boot, restarts them, and logs them. (c) Watching a log in one window while editing a config file in another Good fit. This uses screen's multiplexing rather than its persistence: two windows, or a split view with both visible at once (Chapter 4), inside a single SSH connection. WHY THIS WORKS AS AN ANSWER ------------------------------ It separates screen's two strengths — persistence and multiplexing — and shows where neither is the right answer: permanent services need a service manager, not a user's terminal session.