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From: navas@cory.Berkeley.EDU (David C. Navas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Backup links on 2.0
Message-ID: <9999@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 2 Jan 91 20:31:32 GMT
References: <40262@nigel.ee.udel.edu>
Sender: news@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU
Reply-To: navas@cory.Berkeley.EDU
Lines: 39

In article <40262@nigel.ee.udel.edu> boily@phy.ulaval.ca (Edouard Boily) writes:
>	Let's suppose you're in a directory, say "ram:t".  If you make
>a link with   the following command  "makelink  .. /",   it  will   be
>impossible to  backup the link  directory you've  just  made.  All the

Ack, be quiet or we'll never get hardlinks :) :)
But seriously, read on...

>	Typically, the backup utilities  mentioned get in  an infifite
>loop when they encountered those links.

Right, that's because...

>	Another    thing,   why  are those     links  showed as simple
>directories  and  not as   what they really  are.  When  I   do a list
>command, I should not see
>	..                           Dir ----rwed Today     23:23:17
>but I should see
>	..           --> Ram Disk:  Link l---rwed Today     23:23:17

...the links need to be invisible outside of the (filing?) system, so that
they don't break every program written.  Can you imagine what might happen
to programs that only expected dirs or files to be getting garbage (links)
instead -- insidious!

That helps explain why list does what it does,, although it's certainly not
the definitive answer.  It also helps explain why backup programs don't work.

If they (backup) don't know about links, and if the filing system never gives
them any clues, then the possibility for an infinite loop -- and even incorrect
restores, are possible.

That's an overview of what *might* be happening -- anyone know for sure?
[I'll probably read the docs tonight out of curiosity anyway...]


David Navas                                   navas@cory.berkeley.edu
"Excuse my ignorance, but I've been run over by my train of thought."  -me
[Senior EECS major, programmer for GeoWorks, author of JazzBench]  (and Calvin)