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Date: Mon, 19 Jun 1995 22:22:07 +1000
From: Bruce Evans <bde@zeta.org.au>
Message-Id: <199506191222.WAA01179@godzilla.zeta.org.au>
To: darrylo@sr.hp.com
Subject: Re: bin/534: chmod doesn't work through symlinks
Cc: current@freebsd.org
Sender: current-owner@freebsd.org
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>	File permissions cannot be changed if a file is referenced via a
>	symlink.

You have to use the -R flag and either the -H or -L flag according to the
man page (chmod.1):

"Symbolic links do not have modes, so unless the -H or -L option is set,
chmod on a symbolic link always succeeds and has no effect.  The -H, -L
options are ignored unless the -R option is specified".

This differs from historical behaviour.  See symlink.7 for why.
Essentially, it is so that the -R, -H, -L and -P flags work the same for
all commands that do tree traversals.

Bruce