# File lib/daemons/pid.rb, line 6
    def Pid.running?(pid, additional = nil)
      match_pid = Regexp.new("^\\s*#{pid}\\s")
      got_match = false

      ps_all = IO.popen("ps ax") # the correct syntax is without a dash (-) !

      ps_all.each { |psline|
        next unless psline =~ match_pid
        got_match = true
        got_match = false if additional and psline !~ /#{additional}/
        break
      }
      ps_all.close

      # an alternative would be to use the code below, but I don't know whether this is portable

      # `ps axo pid=`.split.include? pid.to_s

       
      return got_match
    end