Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!mcnc!rti!dg-rtp!larrybud.rtp.dg.com!goudreau From: goudreau@larrybud.rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Hard links to directories: why not? Message-ID: <1990Jul24.200950.2964@dg-rtp.dg.com> Date: 24 Jul 90 20:09:50 GMT References: <5222@milton.u.washington.edu> <6940@eos.UUCP> <837@ehviea.ine.philips.nl> <25668@mimsy.umd.edu> Sender: usenet@dg-rtp.dg.com (Usenet Administration) Reply-To: goudreau@larrybud.rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 21 In article , peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) writes: > > We're only talking about letting users make hard links to directories. Not > about deleting them. Root can always make files by playing games that find > can't find... the question at hand here is if a user can. A user can't > unlink a directory with unlink, so they can't build this structure even if > they can make a hard link to a directory. Don't be too sure that even the superuser can link() to or unlink() from directories. POSIX.1 doesn't require an implementation to support link() and unlink() on directories, and implementations that disallow such actions do indeed exist. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bob Goudreau +1 919 248 6231 Data General Corporation 62 Alexander Drive goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 ...!mcnc!rti!xyzzy!goudreau USA