Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!mimsy!mojo!mojo!djm From: djm@eng.umd.edu (David J. MacKenzie) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: ln -f, POSIX requirements Message-ID: Date: 23 Jul 90 20:52:48 GMT Sender: news@eng.umd.edu (The News System) Organization: Free Software Foundation Lines: 16 POSIX.2 draft 9 requires that ln unlink unwritable existing destination files before linking; it also requires a -i option to ask first, and an -f option to unlink all existing destination files before linking. All of this was designed to make ln more consistent with mv and cp. The BSD ln's -f option has a completely different meaning -- allow hard links to directories (what started this discussion), but only for the superuser. The SunOS 4.1 "System V" ln command has -f with the POSIX meaning (almost -- it also suppresses error messages) and -F with the BSD meaning. The GNU ln follows POSIX, and has -d to allow hard links to directories for the superusr, but I'm going to add -F as a synonym for Sun compatibility in the next release. -- David J. MacKenzie