Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix
Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watcgl!idallen
From: "Ian! D. Allen [CGL]" <idallen@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Subject: ln -s gives wrong error message on Ultrix 4.1
Message-ID: <1991Apr9.194356.24156@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Sender: idallen@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Ian! D. Allen [CGL])
Organization: Computer Graphics Laboratory, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1991 19:43:56 GMT
Lines: 46

For a nonexistent pathname "xxx" and a directory into which I do not
have permission to write "/", Ultrix issues the wrong error message:

On a MIPS system here:

    1% ln -s xxx /
    //xxx: Permission denied                               <- correct
    2% touch /tmp/xxx
    3% ln -s /tmp/xxx /
    //xxx: Permission denied

On a 4.3 BSD system here:

    1% ln -s xxx /
    //xxx: Permission denied                               <- correct
    2% touch /tmp/xxx
    3% ln -s /tmp/xxx /
    //xxx: Permission denied

On a SunOS 4.1 system here:

    1% ln -s xxx /
    ln: //xxx: Permission denied                           <- correct
    2% touch /tmp/xxx
    3% ln -s /tmp/xxx /
    ln: //xxx: Permission denied

On Ultrix 4.1:

    1% ln -s xxx /
    xxx: No such file or directory                         <- What?!
    2% touch /tmp/xxx
    3% ln -s /tmp/xxx /
    //xxx: Permission denied

The "No such file or directory" that Ultrix issues is not correct for #1.
The presence or absence of the link content should not affect the fact
that I don't have permission to make the symbolic link.

Ultrix should say, like everyone else, "Permission denied".  
(It should also put the command name "ln:" in the error messages.)

Same problem on Ultrix 3.1 and Ultrix 3.1C.  It gets marks for consistency.
-- 
-IAN! (Ian! D. Allen) idallen@watcgl.uwaterloo.ca idallen@watcgl.waterloo.edu
 [129.97.128.64]  Computer Graphics Lab/University of Waterloo/Ontario/Canada