From owner-freebsd-questions Wed Oct 9 19: 9: 2 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1BCC237B401 for ; Wed, 9 Oct 2002 19:09:01 -0700 (PDT) Received: from russian-caravan.cloud9.net (russian-caravan.cloud9.net [168.100.1.4]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A6BAB43E6A for ; Wed, 9 Oct 2002 19:09:00 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from Hostmaster@Video2Video.Com) Received: from earl-grey.cloud9.net (earl-grey.cloud9.net [168.100.1.1]) by russian-caravan.cloud9.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 4F6B5326CC for ; Wed, 9 Oct 2002 22:09:00 -0400 (EDT) Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2002 22:09:00 -0400 (EDT) From: Peter Leftwich X-X-Sender: To: FreeBSD LIST Subject: Re: help with ln "linking" Please! [attn manpage authors!] In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <20021009220536.F36987-100000@earl-grey.cloud9.net> Organization: Video2Video Services - http://Www.Video2Video.Com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On 8 Oct 2002, Gary W. Swearingen wrote: > PL> The manpage is super unclear about sourcefile and targetfile, I have > PL> said this for years. Think of this paragraph: [snip] > PL> ... as this instead `ln -s actualfile linkfile` > That's not the best way to think of it, since "actualfile" need not be > an actual file! Nor "existing", as the manual has. The "source" Nor existing? How so? [!] > concept is actually pretty good, since the "source file" is used as the > source of data when "target file" is accessed. > > Confusion comes about mostly because the "ls" command shows an arrow > pointing from the target (AKA destination) to the source, backwards from > what most people would expect when thinking of source and > destination/target. The arrow points away from the target! It also > shows them in reverse order from how they are given to "ln". That's a good point, the arrows do point in the "wrong" direction. :) > How about this: ln [-fhinsv] source_filename [link_filename] > I just TRY to remember them as being bassackwards from the more natural > order of "ls": link -> source LOL - on a second read of your commentary I noticed 'bassackwards.' > Anybody else have terms they'd prefer the manual use in both the > SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION? I like Adam's ideology about the file you want to create comes last. Like an old man on medication with an ejaculatory condition. Har har. > Peter, who have you "said this for years" TO? Have you filed a Problem > Report which I could send a patch for? If so, what's the number? The "said this for years" was probably me cursing and drooling asleep. -- Peter Leftwich President & Founder Video2Video Services Box 13692, La Jolla, CA, 92039 USA +1-413-403-9555 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message