Safer timeout handling and test case

Safer timeout handling and test case

Timeouts of less than 2 seconds are unsafe due to the lack of
subsecond resolution in most POSIX filesystems.  This is the
trade-off for using a low-complexity solution for timeouts.
Since this type of timeout is a last resort; 2 seconds is not
entirely unreasonable IMNSHO.  Additionally, timing out too
aggressively can put us in a fork loop and slow down the system.

Of course, the default is 60 seconds and most people do not
bother to change it.