I am having the exact same issue.


strace tail -f file
execve("/usr/bin/tail", ["tail", "-f", "file"], [/* 39 vars */]) = 0
brk(0)                                  = 0xa1a000
access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK)      = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db215e000
access("/etc/ld.so.preload", R_OK)      = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/etc/ld.so.cache", O_RDONLY)      = 3
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=135434, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 135434, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0db213c000
close(3)                                = 0
access("/etc/ld.so.nohwcap", F_OK)      = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libc.so.6", O_RDONLY) = 3
read(3, "\177ELF\2\1\1\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\0\3\0>\0\1\0\0\0\20\360\1\0\0\0\0\0"..., 832) = 832
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0755, st_size=1638120, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 3749080, PROT_READ|PROT_EXEC, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0db1bac000
mprotect(0x7f0db1d36000, 2093056, PROT_NONE) = 0
mmap(0x7f0db1f35000, 20480, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_DENYWRITE, 3, 0x189000) = 0x7f0db1f35000
mmap(0x7f0db1f3a000, 21720, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_FIXED|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db1f3a000
close(3)                                = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db213b000
mmap(NULL, 8192, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db2139000
arch_prctl(ARCH_SET_FS, 0x7f0db2139720) = 0
mprotect(0x7f0db1f35000, 16384, PROT_READ) = 0
mprotect(0x60c000, 4096, PROT_READ)     = 0
mprotect(0x7f0db2160000, 4096, PROT_READ) = 0
munmap(0x7f0db213c000, 135434)          = 0
brk(0)                                  = 0xa1a000
brk(0xa3b000)                           = 0xa3b000
open("/usr/lib/locale/locale-archive", O_RDONLY) = 3
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=6856112, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 6856112, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 3, 0) = 0x7f0db1522000
close(3)                                = 0
open("file", O_RDONLY)                  = 3
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=15, ...}) = 0
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_CUR)                   = 0
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_END)                   = 15
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_SET)                   = 0
read(3, "this is a file\n", 15)         = 15
lseek(3, 0, SEEK_SET)                   = 0
read(3, "this is a file\n", 15)         = 15
fstat(1, {st_mode=S_IFCHR|0620, st_rdev=makedev(136, 2), ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db215d000
write(1, "this is a file\n", 15this is a file
)        = 15
fstat(3, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=15, ...}) = 0
fstatfs(3, {f_type="EXT2_SUPER_MAGIC", f_bsize=4096, f_blocks=178230698, f_bfree=96244884, f_bavail=87191291, f_files=45268992, f_ffree=44592588, f_fsid={-449494421, -1492475350}, f_namelen=255, f_frsize=4096}) = 0
inotify_init()                          = 4
inotify_add_watch(4, "file", IN_MODIFY|IN_ATTRIB|IN_DELETE_SELF|IN_MOVE_SELF) = -1 ENOSPC (No space left on device)
open("/usr/share/locale/locale.alias", O_RDONLY) = 5
fstat(5, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=2570, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 4096, PROT_READ|PROT_WRITE, MAP_PRIVATE|MAP_ANONYMOUS, -1, 0) = 0x7f0db215c000
read(5, "# Locale name alias data base.\n#"..., 4096) = 2570
read(5, "", 4096)                       = 0
close(5)                                = 0
munmap(0x7f0db215c000, 4096)            = 0
open("/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale-langpack/en/LC_MESSAGES/coreutils.mo", O_RDONLY) = 5
fstat(5, {st_mode=S_IFREG|0644, st_size=619, ...}) = 0
mmap(NULL, 619, PROT_READ, MAP_PRIVATE, 5, 0) = 0x7f0db215c000
close(5)                                = 0
write(2, "tail: ", 6tail: )                   = 6
write(2, "cannot watch `file'", 19cannot watch `file')     = 19
open("/usr/share/locale/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale/en/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale-langpack/en_US/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
open("/usr/share/locale-langpack/en/LC_MESSAGES/libc.mo", O_RDONLY) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
write(2, ": No space left on device", 25: No space left on device) = 25
write(2, "\n", 1
)                       = 1
close(1)                                = 0
munmap(0x7f0db215d000, 4096)            = 0
close(2)                                = 0
exit_group(1)                           = ?


iqbala@ghar-iqbala:~$ uname -a
Linux ghar-iqbala 2.6.38-10-generic #46-Ubuntu SMP Tue Jun 28 15:07:17 UTC 2011 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
iqbala@ghar-iqbala:~$ lsb_release -a
LSB Version:	core-2.0-amd64:core-2.0-noarch:core-3.0-amd64:core-3.0-noarch:core-3.1-amd64:core-3.1-noarch:core-3.2-amd64:core-3.2-noarch:core-4.0-amd64:core-4.0-noarch
Distributor ID:	Ubuntu
Description:	Ubuntu 11.04
Release:	11.04
Codename:	natty