Re: Odd symlink behavour

Matthias Urlichs (smurf@smurf.noris.de)
Tue, 22 Oct 1996 21:48:19 -0200

In linux.dev.kernel, article <326D3AB0.1D338330@interpath.com>,
James Hughes <jamesh@interpath.com> writes:
> I have noticed an odd behavour with symlinked directories under the
> 2.0.22 kernel on the ext2 filesystem. When copying a file from a
> symlinked directory using a relative destination, the file is copied not
> to the location relative to the symlinked directory, but to the location
> relative to the original directory.
>
That's not a bug, that's a feature. A feature of bash, which helpfully
behaves as if you are in a "symlinked" directory. That's untrue -- there is
no such thing, there's only a normal directory which the symlink happens to
point to -- and if you RTFM "man 1 bash", the nice FM even tells you the
name of the feature, and how to turn it off ("set nolinks" or "set -o
physical" or "set -P"). (This should be the default, actually, as it
leads to inconsistencies, which you saw.)

-- 
Hackers don't do it -- they're hacking all the time.

-- 
Matthias Urlichs         \  noris network GmbH  /  Xlink-POP Nürnberg 
Schleiermacherstraße 12   \   Linux+Internet   /   EMail: urlichs@noris.de
90491 Nürnberg (Germany)   \    Consulting+Programming+Networking+etc'ing
   PGP: 1024/4F578875   1B 89 E2 1C 43 EA 80 44  15 D2 29 CF C6 C7 E0 DE
       Click <A HREF="http://info.noris.de/~smurf/finger">here</A>.    42