Description of problem: when user quits application (ctrl-q or similar), gnome-shell sometimes doesn't allow the process to properly terminate so defunct (zombie) processes start appearing in process list. This may harm operation of some apps so gnome-shell shouldn't do it. Version-Release number of selected component (if applicable): gnome-shell-3.8.4-31.el7.x86_64 How reproducible: not sure Steps to Reproduce: 1. use gnome for extended period of time, start apps, quit apps 2. 3. Actual results: zombie processes start appearing: 0 S djasa 8675 15067 0 80 0 - 28160 pipe_w 11:31 pts/2 00:00:00 grep defunct 0 Z djasa 14182 17530 0 80 0 - 0 exit kvě26 ? 00:00:37 [hexchat] <defunct> 0 Z djasa 19736 17530 0 80 0 - 0 exit kvě26 ? 00:08:57 [evolution] <defunct> 0 Z djasa 27050 26953 0 80 0 - 0 exit kvě27 ? 00:00:00 [gnome-shell-ext] <defunct> F S UID PID PPID C PRI NI ADDR SZ WCHAN STIME TTY TIME CMD 0 S djasa 17530 17292 1 80 0 - 506061 poll_s kvě20 ? 149:44 /usr/bin/gnome-shell Expected results: no zombie processes with gnome-shell parent should be around Additional info:
This is just a workaround, but using killall -HUP gnome-shell seems to kill zombies (while preserving running programs).
The workaround is not ideal because it kills gnome-shell and often messes up multi-monitor setups.