Run a command with limited STDOUT. Usage: write_limiter some cmd goes here

write_limiter.rb

launching_pid = Process.pid

reader, writer = IO.pipe

MAX_WRITE = 10000

if fork
  reader.close

  $stdout.reopen(writer)

  exec *ARGV  
else
  counter = 0 
  writer.close

  while c = reader.getc
    counter += 1

    if counter > MAX_WRITE
      Process.kill("KILL", launching_pid)
      break
    else
      $stdout.putc c
    end
  end

  reader.close
end