Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!mcgill-vision!mouse
From: mouse@mcgill-vision.UUCP (der Mouse)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards
Subject: Re: A suggestion: .... == ../../..
Message-ID: <1083@mcgill-vision.UUCP>
Date: 26 Apr 88 21:56:13 GMT
References: <75@vertical.oz> <4221@vdsvax.steinmetz.ge.com> <368@inta1.UUCP>
Organization: McGill University, Montreal
Lines: 27

In article <368@inta1.UUCP>, tim@introl.uucp (Tim Chase) writes:
> Maybe now that knowledge of "." and ".." is both in the file system
> and the kernel, they ought to be removed from the file system.

Yes!  Unfortunately, the information currently associated with .. must
reside on disk somewhere, though it needn't be a regular directory
entry.

> That would at least save some disk space,

Not enough to matter, I expect.  24 bytes per directory isn't much, and
since we have to save the parent inumber anyway, it's only 20 (22?)
bytes per directory.

> but would probably break programs that read directories.

Depends on how sloppily the program was written.  Does the ignore . and
.. or does it ignore the first two entries?

Anybody know (a) how many directory-reading programs there are and (b)
how many of these just ignore the first two entries instead of doing it
right?

					der Mouse

			uucp: mouse@mcgill-vision.uucp
			arpa: mouse@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu