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From: gwyn@brl-smoke.ARPA (Doug Gwyn )
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: .. not considered as a botch
Message-ID: <6037@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Date: Sun, 28-Jun-87 22:24:41 EDT
Article-I.D.: brl-smok.6037
Posted: Sun Jun 28 22:24:41 1987
Date-Received: Mon, 29-Jun-87 01:39:14 EDT
References: <8075@brl-adm.ARPA>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn>)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 36

In article <8075@brl-adm.ARPA> umix!itivax!lokkur!scs@seismo.CSS.GOV (Steve Simmons) writes:
>Here are some statements which I think we all agree on:

You should know better than that!

>  1.  '..' is the name of a file in your current directory whose
>      inode number indicates the parent of the current directory;
>      with 'parent' admittedly being defined loosely.

No, these days there is no particular reason to expect inode numbers
to be associated with directory entries or to have simple meaning;
nor do all directories have actual entries for ".." and ".".  Even
in the "good old days" of simple UNIX filesystems (around 7th Ed.),
".." had special properties in the root of a mounted filesystem.

>  2.  The general usage of the shell command 'cd ..' is to return
>      to the last-but-one directory on the path which got you into
>      your current directory.

People are arguing about this, so I don't think "we all agree" on it.

>  3.  The 'cd X' means 'change the current working directory to X'.

That is a tautology.  What is meant by that phrase, operationally?

>If you want to back up one, fine: let's add
>a 'pb' for 'path backwards' command ...

Most of the discussion centers on semantics for the chdir() system
call; the "cd" shell command is used just for notational convenience.

>Let's not add another just for the people who haven't
>thought through what the file named '..' really is.

Ahem, some of the folks on Korn's side have given considerable
thought to this matter.  As undoubtedly have some of the som l), ot