Re: rmdir(".") works, and causes havoc

John Kodis (kodis@jagunet.com)
Tue, 5 Aug 1997 19:23:54 -0400

On Mon, Aug 04, 1997 at 09:23:24AM -0700, Linus Torvalds wrote:

> I'll probably just have to add a test for "." and ".." by hand to rmdir().
> Sad, because it _could_ be potentially useful, it's just not allowed in
> POSIX.

You could follow the precident set by the FSF. Allow the new enhanced
behavior by default, but provide a switch, for example:

$ echo "1" > /proc/POSIXLY_CORRECT

To force the POSIX-mandated brain-damage.

-- John Kodis.