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Description of problem:

tail supports `-n 0` in it's `-f` "mode":

  tail -f -n 0 file

so should tailf:

[newman@dhcp-25-28 tmp]$ tailf -n 0 file 
tailf: invalid number of lines

Thus I propose tailf to be able to print out zero-length output from watched log file.

(Sorry to put it here, I failed to find upstream Bugzilla and didn't want to write o m-l w/o patch.)

Fixed by upstream commit 127b12dcf6bd1a150fa2ebdec3161fcddab9ada6. It should be possible to backport the patch to RHEL6.

This request was evaluated by Red Hat Product Management for inclusion in the
current release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Because the affected component is
not scheduled to be updated in the current release, Red Hat is unfortunately
unable to address this request at this time.  It has been proposed for the next
release. If you would like it considered as an exception in the current
release, please ask your support representative.

Since the problem described in this bug report should be
resolved in a recent advisory, it has been closed with a
resolution of ERRATA.

For information on the advisory, and where to find the updated
files, follow the link below.

If the solution does not work for you, open a new bug report.

http://rhn.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2013-0517.html