tty: set the handle to blocking mode

doc/api/cli.md

@@ -288,6 +288,17 @@ Path to the file used to store the persistent REPL history. The default path is
 to an empty string (`""` or `" "`) disables persistent REPL history.
 
 
+### `NODE_TTY_UNSAFE_ASYNC=1`
+<!-- YAML
+added: REPLACEME
+-->
+
+When set to `1`, writes to `stdout` and `stderr` will be non-blocking and
+asynchronous when outputting to a TTY on platforms which support async stdio.
+Setting this will void any guarantee that stdio will not be interleaved or
+dropped at program exit. **Use of this mode is not recommended.**
+
+
 [Buffer]: buffer.html#buffer_buffer
 [debugger]: debugger.html
 [REPL]: repl.html

doc/api/process.md

@@ -858,10 +858,9 @@ if (someConditionNotMet()) {
 ```
 
 The reason this is problematic is because writes to `process.stdout` in Node.js
-are usually *non-blocking* and may occur over multiple ticks of the Node.js
-event loop.
-Calling `process.exit()`, however, forces the process to exit *before* those
-additional writes to `stdout` can be performed.
+are sometimes *non-blocking* and may occur over multiple ticks of the Node.js
+event loop. Calling `process.exit()`, however, forces the process to exit
+*before* those additional writes to `stdout` can be performed.
 
 Rather than calling `process.exit()` directly, the code *should* set the
 `process.exitCode` and allow the process to exit naturally by avoiding
@@ -1429,15 +1428,20 @@ Android)
 The `process.stderr` property returns a [Writable][] stream equivalent to or
 associated with `stderr` (fd `2`).
 
-`process.stderr` and `process.stdout` are unlike other streams in Node.js in
-that they cannot be closed (calling [`end()`][] will throw an Error), they never
-emit the [`'finish'`][] event, and writes can block when output is redirected to
-a file (although disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back
-caching so it should be a very rare occurrence indeed.)
+Note: `process.stderr` and `process.stdout` differ from other Node.js streams
+in several ways:
+1. They cannot be closed ([`end()`][] will throw).
+2. They never emit the [`'finish'`][] event.
+3. Writes _can_ block when output is redirected to a file.
+  - Note that disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back
+    caching so this is very uncommon.
+4. Writes on UNIX __will__ block by default if output is going to a TTY
+   (a terminal).
+5. Windows functionality differs. Writes block except when output is going to a
+   TTY.
 
-Additionally, `process.stderr` and `process.stdout` are blocking when outputting
-to TTYs (terminals) on OS X as a workaround for the OS's very small, 1kb
-buffer size. This is to prevent interleaving between `stdout` and `stderr`.
+To check if Node.js is being run in a TTY context, read the `isTTY` property
+on `process.stderr`, `process.stdout`, or `process.stdin`:
 
 ## process.stdin
 
@@ -1482,11 +1486,17 @@ console.log = (msg) => {
 };
 ```
 
-`process.stderr` and `process.stdout` are unlike other streams in Node.js in
-that they cannot be closed (calling [`end()`][] will throw an Error), they never
-emit the [`'finish'`][] event and that writes can block when output is
-redirected to a file (although disks are fast and operating systems normally
-employ write-back caching so it should be a very rare occurrence indeed.)
+Note: `process.stderr` and `process.stdout` differ from other Node.js streams
+in several ways:
+1. They cannot be closed ([`end()`][] will throw).
+2. They never emit the [`'finish'`][] event.
+3. Writes _can_ block when output is redirected to a file.
+  - Note that disks are fast and operating systems normally employ write-back
+    caching so this is very uncommon.
+4. Writes on UNIX __will__ block by default if output is going to a TTY
+   (a terminal).
+5. Windows functionality differs. Writes block except when output is going to a
+   TTY.
 
 To check if Node.js is being run in a TTY context, read the `isTTY` property
 on `process.stderr`, `process.stdout`, or `process.stdin`:

doc/node.1

@@ -169,6 +169,13 @@ Path to the file used to store the persistent REPL history. The default path
 is ~/.node_repl_history, which is overridden by this variable. Setting the
 value to an empty string ("" or " ") disables persistent REPL history.
 
+.TP
+.BR NODE_TTY_UNSAFE_ASYNC=1
+When set to 1, writes to stdout and stderr will be non-blocking and asynchronous
+when outputting to a TTY on platforms which support async stdio.
+Setting this will void any guarantee that stdio will not be interleaved or
+dropped at program exit. \fBAvoid use.\fR
+
 
 .SH RESOURCES AND DOCUMENTATION
 

lib/tty.js

@@ -48,12 +48,12 @@ function WriteStream(fd) {
     writable: true
   });
 
-  // Prevents interleaved stdout/stderr output in OS X terminals.
+  // Prevents interleaved or dropped stdout/stderr output for terminals.
   // As noted in the following reference, local TTYs tend to be quite fast and
   // this behaviour has become expected due historical functionality on OS X,
   // even though it was originally intended to change in v1.0.2 (Libuv 1.2.1).
   // Ref: https://github.com/nodejs/node/pull/1771#issuecomment-119351671
-  if (process.platform === 'darwin') this._handle.setBlocking(true);
+  this._handle.setBlocking(process.env.NODE_TTY_UNSAFE_ASYNC !== '1');
 
   var winSize = [];
   var err = this._handle.getWindowSize(winSize);