I am always very hesitant to run kill -9.

But I see other admins do it almost routinely.

I figure there is probably a sensible middle ground.

So:

1. When should kill -9 be used?
2. What should be tried before doing it?
3. Is there any kind of debugging a "hung" process that could cause further problems?
4. When should kill -9 never be used?
5. What bad things can happen if kill -9 is used?

I am always very hesitant to run kill -9, but I see other admins do it almost routinely.

I figure there is probably a sensible middle ground, so:

1. When and why should kill -9 be used? When and why not?
2. What should be tried before doing it?
3. What kind of debugging a "hung" process could cause further problems?