> In any case, in the POSIX.1 definition, multiple separator
> characters '/' do not create null pathname components which are the same
> as '.' (although many traditional Unix systems implement things this
> way). Instead, POSIX.1 states that "multiple slashes are to be
> considered the same as one slash."
Yes, but that is not really relevant to the present discussion.
POSIX.1 says that several slashes are equivalent to one,
not that one is equivalent to zero.
And, for example, "a" and "a/." are not equivalent
in case "a" is a symbolic link to a directory.
In this case "a/" can only be "a/." (for example
because POSIX only allows trailing slashes for a
directory) - but POSIX doesnt seem to allow this
interpretation of "a/".
However, I agree with you that Linux should be changed.
Andries