If you use select, then you don't need to use alarm. But either of these is probably a good choice.

Yeah, the other reason why I'm forking is so I don't have to use select. It seems kludgy to me for some reason.

Also, you can also try to get the parent to trap that is about to exit and notify the child any way you like. You can use END and signal handlers in the parent for this.

Yeah, but you can't trap a kill -9. I have END and SIG{INT} and SIG{TERM} handlers that toast the kid's but I just hate leaving loose ends.

I suppose I'm just being picky.