[collectd] Plugins values

[Fabien Wernli]

Hi,

On Thu, Feb 07, 2013 at 01:33:19PM +0100, Frédéric Pégé wrote:
> The load values are returned in 3 different values under the same item.
> load/load. Values are longterm, shortterm and midterm. And I'm ok with that.

Just my two cents on loadavg: IMHO it's totally useless to keep anything
else than shortterm, if you're using some kind of historization like
rrdtool, as you'll get the two others for free.
midterm/longterm are only useful when no history is available,
e.g. from the command line, or if you're using some kind of realtime
visualization.

> Do you have an explanation for these different ways ?

Anyways, back to your real question:
The reason for the differences is purely historical. The tendency is to move
away from multiple datasources (like load, if_octets, etc.) and use only
simple datasources, like gauge, cpu, etc.

Maybe this will happen in collectd 6, if two wisely chosen guys have the
courage to do so ;-)