Oh, futz. There's a very good reason, which has already been stated: the
same reason that "ls -l" of a database-type file (whether from Berkeley DB or
Oracle) doesn't return the number of bytes occupied by active records.
Reorganizing a database-like file (and directories are in effect simple
databases) on the fly is fraught with race conditions and performance
issues. So when you delete a "record" you leave the space there, allocated
but unused. If a later new record will fit in the space, you reuse it. This
is true of directories; it's true of gdbm; it's true of Berkeley DB; it's
true of Oracle and Informix. And not just on Linux.
Can we lay this silly thread to rest now?
-- brandon s. allbery [os/2][linux][solaris][japh] allbery@kf8nh.apk.net system administrator [WAY too many hats] allbery@ece.cmu.edu carnegie mellon / electrical and computer engineering KF8NH We are Linux. Resistance is an indication that you missed the point.- To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/