Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!ira.uka.de!smurf!urlichs
From: urlichs@smurf.sub.org (Matthias Urlichs)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: "Symbolic links" with the finder?
Message-ID: <90.148.18:13:52@smurf.sub.org>
Date: 28 May 90 16:13:51 GMT
References: <25054@netnews.upenn.edu> <2456@network.ucsd.edu> <1990May24.164053.15352@siia.mv.com>
Organization: University of Karlsruhe, FRG
Lines: 34

In comp.sys.mac.misc, article <1990May24.164053.15352@siia.mv.com>,
  drd@siia.mv.com (David Dick) writes:
< In <2456@network.ucsd.edu> barry@network.ucsd.edu (Barry Brown) writes:
< 
< >There are times when having symbolic links would be nice.  In fact, I
< >can think of one case where they would be handy (I'm facing a problem
< >links would solve)...
< 
A big hello to System 7.0, which does exactly this...

< Personally, I like a filesystem that supports "hard" links.
< (like UNIX :-)
< If properly implemented, they don't require a hack to make sure 
< references are correct--they always are.
< 
Unfortunately, there's these major disadvantages -- hard links only work if
you're on the same disk, and there are ways to break them (like removing the
file and creating a new copy) which leave two versions of your document lying
around. The 7.0 Alias Manager does get around these problems quite well.

The only problem I have with it is that applications are supposed to check for
aliases yourself (Standard File and the Finder do it for you, but if you alias
your dictionary files to the server because your hard disk is full the
application has to unalias it by itself. Not so good, but it's still Alpha
release and maybe Apple finds out how to change that...).

< At any rate, any modern filesystem should provide some kind
< of efficient aliasing for files, and perhaps even directories.
< 
Or volumes (possibly on remote servers, and maybe even on servers which are at
the moment disconnected). Or even trash cans. ;-)

-- 
Matthias Urlichs