Date: 09 Oct 2002 00:40:09 -0700 From: swear@attbi.com (Gary W. Swearingen) To: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: help with ln "linking" Please! [attn manpage authors!] Message-ID: <vgfzvg5acm.zvg@localhost.localdomain> In-Reply-To: <20021008222505.GK83241@hades.hell.gr> References: <zgsmzg69y1.mzg@localhost.localdomain> <200210082214.g98MEngt064064@lurza.secnetix.de> <20021008222505.GK83241@hades.hell.gr>
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Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> writes: > > FWIW, the source doesn't have to be a file at all, in the > > case of symbolic links. I think the correct term is "link > > target" in that case -- that's how it is called in the > > standards (POSIX, SUSvX etc.). It looks like the manual has gotten the two arguments reversed. File /usr/src/bin/ln/ln.c has them in "target, source" order. So instead of "data source" it's "link source", with "link target" the programmer's way of saying "link destination". But I think the term "target" is too esoteric and jargon best left to section 3 of the manual and POSIX. My legacy Linux manual has "ln [options] source [dest]". I'm afraid that changing the manual to use "source" in the name of the last argument (like the C code does), will draw complaints and confuse people used to having "source" in the name of the first argument. I'm thinking it might be best to drop the term altogether and use this: ln [-fhinsv] linked_filename [link_filename] ln [-fhinsv] linked_filename ... dir_filename link existing_filename alternate_filename This is cleaner, but I think "filename" should be standard in filenames. ln [-fhinsv] to [from] ln [-fhinsv] to ... dir link existing alternate > True. /etc/malloc.conf is a nice example of cases that this holds > true, and the 'source' doesn't have to be a real file, or exist at all > for that matter. Yuck; malloc.conf is nasty. Worse than encoding file types and dates in filenames. (But not quite as bad as encoding cookies and other data in URLs.) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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