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Date:      Fri, 15 Jun 2001 18:35:15 +0200
From:      "Steve O'Hara-Smith" <steveo@eircom.net>
To:        David Wolfskill <david@catwhisker.org>
Cc:        current@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: symlink(2) [Was: Re: tcsh.cat]
Message-ID:  <20010615183515.36f81380.steveo@eircom.net>
In-Reply-To: <200106151331.f5FDVCo94946@bunrab.catwhisker.org>
References:  <Pine.BSF.4.21.0106152249470.84573-100000@besplex.bde.org> <200106151331.f5FDVCo94946@bunrab.catwhisker.org>

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On Fri, 15 Jun 2001 06:31:12 -0700 (PDT)
David Wolfskill <david@catwhisker.org> wrote:

DW> Indeed: it is my understanding that the "path name" interpretation is
DW> an issue at the time of reference, not (necessarily) the time of
DW> creation.  It has, to the best of my knowledge, been valid to create a
DW> symlink prior to a point when its target exists.

	It has been on evey platform I have ever used ln -s on.

DW> One may well argue that this is "broken" in some way(s).  Still, changing
DW> it at this point could well be considered  a POLA violation, at best.

	I would argue loud and long that changing that *would* be broken. There
is never a guarantee (or even an implication) that a symlink points to a
valid directory entry (think unmounted filesystems, NFS ...). I find it hard
to imagine why creation time should be special in that regard.

-- 
    Directable Mirrors - A Better Way To Focus The Sun

	 	        http://www.best.com/~sohara

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