Why does HTOP show exclamation mark next to uptime

Question

Here is the screenshot

What does the (!) means next to the uptime ?

Balzac

I have asked the maintainers of htop to remove it, as it causes confusion, but they disagreed, see github.com/htop-dev/htop/issues/614 – Gabriellagabrielle

@Gabriellagabrielle "Most people get the meaning of the (!) intuitively (we've had zero support requests for this)" - this looks like a blatant lie – Boyett

Indeed, they're just not willing to make the change, and let go of an 'artistic' decision they made in error. – Gabriellagabrielle

Answer 1

htop adds an exclamation mark if the uptime is greater than 100 days.

From: https://github.com/hishamhm/htop/blob/0e8a02367ec7ca8f52b10de70938dfd07faed3ab/UptimeMeter.c#L41

Shoulder

The question is mis asked, so this doesnt answer my version of the question which is why does it do so / what it means. Does it mean wow look how good your server is, or does it mean, boy you need to reboot it? – Whitewall

@Whitewall It means that when you do get around to rebooting, it might not come up. – Deeplaid

@Deeplaid You mean it may not come back up because it's been so long since a reboot that some component or similar failed during that time? Are there other reasons that it might not come back up? – Lionel

Where is what the author of htop has to say: unix.stackexchange.com/a/351864 – Verdi

Answer 2

It is letting you know that your server has been up for a long time. Basically anything over 100 days of uptime will produce an exclamation mark next to the uptime reading.

Kansu

Aren't servers built and meant not to be rebooted often ? – Balzac

@Balzac Yes, but this basically means the server has gone six months without a kernel update. – Eschar

@thatotherguy not necessarily, at least with ksplice you don't need to reboot. – Solvolysis

What, 100 days are now six months? – Romanov

100 days = 6 months in the metric system. – Poetess

Where is what the author of htop has to say: unix.stackexchange.com/a/351864 – Verdi