If I'm using Slackware, su to root and shutdown now or shutdown now -H depending on whether the computer understands -H.

If I'm using something with a graphical login screen (Debian, Ubuntu), I use the menu.

I use sudo only if I have no choice. I'm an su kind of guy.

The keys still click on every keyboard I own. A click is a click is a click, regardless of whether it's made by a mouse or a key.

So I still maintain 3 clicks is easier than 15.

I use "sudo shutdown -h now", and even configured sudo not to require a password for the shutdown command. But I should probably use the power button, I guess it's time to get acpi working.

Anyway, in older computers, the power button actually switched off power the the computer. Now it notifies the OS, which can choose what to do.

If I just powered-off at the wall socket then that's what you'd see and yes, an unclean shutdown is still a very bad thing to do. However, though most desktop systems still have a real power switch on the back of the psu, the power button on the front hasn't been a true power switch for a good number of years now, and will just generate an acpi event when pressed. It's up to the OS to decide what to do at that point. Recent versions of Slackware will respond by doing a clean shutdown.

Your poll is missing an entry...

Desktop Power Control.

All the desktops and even the login screens provide a method to poweroff laptops and desktops.

On the other hand servers do not provide that capability (for obvious reasons).


You are also missing the very obvious "poweroff" command!!!!
which of course could be using ANY of the polled command line methods.

Usually for me I end up watching a movie when I fall asleep. So I use shutdown -h -P 120 (or however many minutes are left in the movie.)

Halt gets the job done.

Tend not to issue shutdown commands from a terminal on my local PC any more.
Always have many ssh sessions open to critical servers, only one key away from an oops moment ;)

And what do you use to watch movies on the computer? Do you have a TV tuner card (that actually works under Linux) or do you watch on the Internet?

shutdown -h now : is the proper way to shutdown a server. Because the shutdown command will wait until the process is getting finished and proceed to shutdown the server

init 0 : This command is logically to tell the Operating environment to switch the runlevel. This will kill all the process with out wait.

halt : To shutdown the server Immediately.

poweroff : Just crash the FS and other sensitive process and power off the hardware.

Issuing "shutdown -h now" command is the best practice for production environment



Thanks :hattip:

What about /etc/init.d/halt stop?

I've heard of warnings: Always read the small print, but that's ridiculous!

Hi,
This advise is BS if you ask me. From the halt/poweroff/reboot manpage:Are you still using a sysvinit prior to version 2.74? Those older version did not call shutdown.

init 0 also produces a clean shutdown.

BTW: Shouting doesn't make it so!