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(libc.info)Inetd Servers

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`inetd' Servers
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   Writing a server program to be run by `inetd' is very simple.  Each
time someone requests a connection to the appropriate port, a new server
process starts.  The connection already exists at this time; the socket
is available as the standard input descriptor and as the standard
output descriptor (descriptors 0 and 1) in the server process.  Thus
the server program can begin reading and writing data right away.
Often the program needs only the ordinary I/O facilities; in fact, a
general-purpose filter program that knows nothing about sockets can
work as a byte stream server run by `inetd'.

   You can also use `inetd' for servers that use connectionless
communication styles.  For these servers, `inetd' does not try to accept
a connection since no connection is possible.  It just starts the
server program, which can read the incoming datagram packet from
descriptor 0.  The server program can handle one request and then exit,
or you can choose to write it to keep reading more requests until no
more arrive, and then exit.  You must specify which of these two
techniques the server uses when you configure `inetd'.