Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!munnari!basser!boyd
From: boyd@basser.oz (Boyd Roberts)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: Symbolic Links
Message-ID: <1014@basser.oz>
Date: Wed, 31-Dec-69 18:59:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: basser.1014
Posted: Wed Dec 31 18:59:59 1969
Date-Received: Sat, 12-Sep-87 16:07:25 EDT
References: <8731@brl-adm.ARPA> <2789@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com> <1781@munnari.oz> <6366@brl-smoke.ARPA> <599@murphy.UUCP> <6411@brl-smoke.ARPA>
Reply-To: boyd@basser.oz (Boyd Roberts)
Organization: Dept of Comp Sci, Uni of Sydney, Australia
Lines: 22

Yes, the semantics of symbolic links were always the tricky bit.  The
implementation was always pretty straight-forward, save for this ridiculous
``cd ..'' scenario.  That's the price you paid for using them.  I can live
with that cost.

What I can't live with is the cost of implementing the ``cd ..'' bad craziness
in the kernel.  If you really want this functionality, use the shell.  Some
clever function/alias with (maybe) some help from a program would just do
the trick.

There's enough crap in the kernel without ridiculous & gross ``back-pointers''
& snarfed away pathnames & weird process state bits needed to implement this
totally dubious hack.  But, if you're hell bent on hacking the kernel
why not save yourself some agony?  Just get chdir() to return ENOTDIR when
it detects a ``cd ..'' from inside a symbolicly linked directory.  After all,
if you're going to break the kernel there's no point busting a gut to do it.



Boyd Roberts			boyd@basser.oz

``When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro...''