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From: davidsen@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: symbolic links are a botch
Message-ID: <6233@steinmetz.steinmetz.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 11-Jun-87 12:04:27 EDT
Article-I.D.: steinmet.6233
Posted: Thu Jun 11 12:04:27 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 20-Jun-87 10:08:50 EDT
References: <7724@brl-adm.ARPA>
Reply-To: davidsen@kbsvax.steinmetz.UUCP (William E. Davidsen Jr)
Organization: General Electric CRD, Schenectady, NY
Lines: 21
Keywords: symbolic link
Summary: problems and another approach


I sent a *much* longer version of this to David Korn directly, but I
thought I would post a summary of my thoughts to the net. I have my
flame suit on.

Problems:
  a) permissions - ignore, new meaning, ?
  b) loops?
  c) links to files, directories?
  d) links to FIFOs (this is SysV)

Possible area(s) of better solution:
  Could a special form of the mount call be used to mount one
subdirectory in another? UNIX really knows how to handle mounts, so it
shouldn't unduely confuse applications and backups.

  Would this effect the .. problem, for better or worse? 
-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu@ge-crd.arpa)
  {chinet | philabs | sesimo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me