ulimit - how do I use it?

[tarak]

In configuring 'opensim' I came across an instruction that reads:

""Using Physical Prim with the OpenDynamicsEngine on *nix, it's recommended that you set your stack reserve level higher then default with the following command; ulimit -s 262144 ......"

Now taking *nix to mean unix, linux etc and forgetting about the first part of the instruction which relates to 'opensim'

I get into my Denian 5 VPS and run the command - results:

    Region (Art) # ulimit -s 262144
    06:30:40 - Invalid command

I also read somewhere the Debian has ulimit automatically set to maximum or unlimited.

What does all this mean? - Is the meaning of life 42 or on the death on the mice did it change to 56, as some say?

EDIT------------------
I think I can see one mistake already - I ran the command in opensim - not the VPS root - but the questions still remain?

[Rubberman]

If you enter the command "ulimit -a" it will show all the current ulimit settings. On a RedHat/CentOS system, the stack size is normally set to 10MB (10240KB), which is too small for some applications, especially ones that use a lot of recursion or large temporary variables. In such a case, you will need to use the ulimit command to increase the stack size. You can make your stack unlimited with the command: ulimit -s unlimited
FYI, even if some ulimit settings are by default unlimited (on my system the data segment size, program code size, etc are), the stack is not normally since a runaway process can consume all available memory as its stack grows until the system itself crashes, or becomes so unresponsive that you have to reboot it. Some buggy programs have done that to me. So, set it according to their recommendations.

As for the meaning of life and everything, I think that Deep Thought had an integer overflow or rounding error in his calculations, and neither answer is correct!