[distcc] distccd idea

[Caleb Tennis]

Martin,

Thanks for distcc, it works great!  I have a scenario, and an idea for your 
comments:

We use a number of linux machines at various workstations running some in 
house software.  Sometimes these machines are idle, and sometimes they're 
being utilized by an operator to run some important tasks (operate 
machinery).

During the idle time, it's nice to be able to use their processing power via 
distcc for compilation.  During the time they're being used, I prefer not to 
use them so as not to take away cpu cycles from other important things going 
on.

However, knowing the state of their current use isn't always feasible.  So, 
what I would like to do is have the ability to configure distccd to be in 
"accept" or "reject" mode.  That is, once the interactive programs at these 
workstations senses that an operator is using the workstation, it tells 
distccd not to accept distcc jobs for now.  Later, when the operator is 
finished, it can tell distccd to again accept distcc jobs.

This way, from a central development computer, I can leave my 
DISTCC_HOSTS="localhost machine1 machine2 machine3..." and let the remote 
computers decide whether they want to accept jobs or not.

Would something like this be acceptable?  Perhaps this can be accomplished by 
a temporary file using a 1/0, or by sending a signal to distccd, or some 
other method you like.

Thanks!
Caleb (please cc me)