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Date:      Sat, 16 Jun 2001 17:27:00 +1000 (EST)
From:      Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au>
To:        "Steve O'Hara-Smith" <steveo@eircom.net>
Cc:        david@catwhisker.org, current@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: symlink(2) [Was: Re: tcsh.cat]
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0106161704180.90711-100000@besplex.bde.org>
In-Reply-To: <20010616085651.29684596.steveo@eircom.net>

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On Sat, 16 Jun 2001, Steve O'Hara-Smith wrote:

> On Sat, 16 Jun 2001 14:34:07 +1000 (EST)
> Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au> wrote:

> BE> cp is also broken for symlinks to valid pathnames for nonexistent files;
> BE> 
> BE>     $ rm -f foo
> BE>     $ ln -s /nonesuch foo
> BE>     $ cp foo bar
> BE> 
> BE> This duplicates foo as a symlink, but should just fail.
> 
> 	This is correct behaviour IMHO - why on earth should it fail. If I
> copy a directory containing symlinks I don't want them do vanish just because
> the target is unavailable.

Because cp copies file contents, not file nodes (unless the -R flag is
specified).  This is clarified in current POSIX drafts.  gnu cp gets
this right.

Bruce


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