Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!think!husc6!cmcl2!brl-adm!adm!bzs%bu-cs.bu.edu@bu-it.bu.edu
From: bzs%bu-cs.bu.edu@bu-it.bu.edu (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: nonstandard .. and . entries - (nf)
Message-ID: <11557@brl-adm.ARPA>
Date: 30 Jan 88 23:11:33 GMT
Sender: news@brl-adm.ARPA
Lines: 19


>2)      If the operating system silently implies these standard
>	relations, why not drop the explicit '..' and '.' entries
>	altogether and consequently forbid (ignore for the sake of
>	compability) linking and unlinking of such entries?

>	Johannes Heuft

You still have to store the per-directory inode numbers for . and ..
somewhere, the directory seems as good a place as any, at least it's
orthogonal. I think all you've discovered is that a super-user can
mess up a file system without a great deal of effort, not a design
weakness, now go play with clri and tell us your impressions (just
joking.) I prefer to think I can get at these or any entries in a
straightforward manner if needed (I've salvaged a directory or two in
my life by re-linking a sensible . and/or .. to it.) Root can do
anything, the best you can do is perhaps make it more complicated
by obscuring things.

	-Barry Shein, Boston University