watcher: do not blindly try to restart a crashing watcher until the end of days

src/vs/workbench/services/files/node/watcher/unix/watcherService.ts

@@ -25,10 +25,14 @@ export class WatcherService {
 }
 
 export class FileWatcher {
+	private static MAX_RESTARTS = 5;
+
 	private isDisposed: boolean;
+	private restartCounter: number;
 
 	constructor(private basePath: string, private ignored: string[], private eventEmitter: IEventService, private errorLogger: (msg: string) => void, private verboseLogging: boolean) {
 		this.isDisposed = false;
+		this.restartCounter = 0;
 	}
 
 	public startWatching(): () => void {
@@ -55,9 +59,15 @@ export class FileWatcher {
 		}, (events: IRawFileChange[]) => this.onRawFileEvents(events)).done(() => {
 
 			// our watcher app should never be completed because it keeps on watching. being in here indicates
-			// that the watcher process died and we want to restart it here.
+			// that the watcher process died and we want to restart it here. we only do it a max number of times
 			if (!this.isDisposed) {
-				this.startWatching();
+				if (this.restartCounter <= FileWatcher.MAX_RESTARTS) {
+					this.errorLogger('Watcher terminated unexpectedly and is restarted again...');
+					this.restartCounter++;
+					this.startWatching();
+				} else {
+					this.errorLogger('Watcher failed to start after retrying for some time, giving up. Please report this as a bug report!');
+				}
 			}
 		}, this.errorLogger);