From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Aug 2 19:55: 7 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.FreeBSD.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id B845537B401 for ; Fri, 2 Aug 2002 19:55:04 -0700 (PDT) Received: from vectors.cx (manifold.vectors.cx [64.163.147.229]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E8EFB43E42 for ; Fri, 2 Aug 2002 19:54:51 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from monkey@vectors.cx) Received: from vectors.cx (d73e3d074d3ba7517c22411ebbbf081a@localhost [127.0.0.1]) by vectors.cx (8.12.4/8.12.4) with ESMTP id g731lv2e044691; Fri, 2 Aug 2002 18:47:57 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from monkey@vectors.cx) Received: (from monkey@localhost) by vectors.cx (8.12.4/8.12.4/Submit) id g731lvam044690; Fri, 2 Aug 2002 18:47:57 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from monkey) Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 18:47:57 -0700 From: Adam Weinberger To: Steve Mazerski Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Why hard, not soft links? Message-ID: <20020803014757.GC9210@vectors.cx> References: <200208030344.27552.smazerski@yahoo.co.jp> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <200208030344.27552.smazerski@yahoo.co.jp> X-Editor: Vim 6.1 http://www.vim.org X-Mailer: Mutt 1.5 http://www.mutt.org X-URL: http://www.vectors.cx http://www.crackula.com User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.1i Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG if /usr/bin/nvi were a softlink to /usr/bin/vi, and you moved /usr/bin/vi to /usr/bin/myeditor, then /usr/bin/nvi wouldn't point to the correct place anymore, and would die. furthermore, a softlink implies "this is a shortcut to running this command," whereas a hardlink implies "this is another name for this command." FURTHERMORE, does $0 get set to the name of the calling softlink? -Adam >> (08.02.2002 @ 1844 PST): Steve Mazerski said, in 0.4K: << > > Is there any particular reason why FreeBSD makes frequent use > of hard links instead of soft links when defining "alternative" > names for commands and other files? > > e.g. /usr/bin/nvi and /usr/bin/vi are the same file. > > Linux distros tend to use soft links for the same thing. > > Just wondering > > S.Mazerski > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > >> end of "Why hard, not soft links?" from Steve Mazerski << -- "Oh good, my dog found the chainsaw." -Lilo, "Lilo & Stitch" Adam Weinberger adam@vectors.cx http://vectors.cx To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message