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From: ark@alice.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: How do I set a file's creation date?
Message-ID: <7041@alice.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 1-Jul-87 08:50:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: alice.7041
Posted: Wed Jul  1 08:50:36 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 3-Jul-87 00:41:39 EDT
References: <4280@caip.rutgers.edu> <7273@mimsy.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Liberty Corner NJ
Lines: 9
Keywords: ioctl's fcntl's ??

In article <7273@mimsy.UUCP>, chris@mimsy.UUCP writes:
> Unix files (V6, V7, 2BSD, 3BSD, 4BSD, Sys3, Sys5 release any) do
> not carry creation dates, only access (atime), modify (mtime), and
> inode-change (ctime) dates.  Ctime is often erroneously called
> the file creation time.  Its real purpose is for backups.

It is often called the file creation time because it once was
the file creation time.  Its meaning changed sometime before V7.
Old habits die hard.