From: urlichs@smurf.sub.org (Matthias Urlichs) Subject: Re: Directory rename FX Date: 12 Feb 1993 07:47:08 +0100
In comp.os.linux, article <1993Feb12.005637.7538@tc.cornell.edu>,
mdw@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Matt Welsh) writes:
> In article <1lek9f$5g5@smurf.sub.org> urlichs@smurf.sub.org (Matthias Urlichs) writes:
> >
> >$ cd /tmp ; mkdir x ; cd x
> >$ (cd ../ mv x y )
> >$ cd .
> >.: No such file or directory
> >This is 0.99.5, Minix FS.
>
> Well, I just tried the same on SunOS 4.1.3...
>
> theory% cd .
> .: No such file or directory
>
> Same behaviour. What's the problem?
>
My point is that renaming a directory should not cause a program (which
happens to be in that directory at the moment) to fail on every path which
happens to begin with "./".
The fact that your SunOS also gets this one wrong is no excuse.
Other systems work correctly; A/UX or SunOS 4.1.2(!!) or Ultrix 4.3
for instance. Yet other systems (somebody reported sysV) get
confused when accessing ".." after renaming the parent directory.
It seems that the problem could easily be fixed with the
strategic update of a (cached?) variable somewhere within
the kernel, but I don't think I have the time (a few days,
for me) to go bug hunting.
-- Bicyclists do it with chains. -- Matthias Urlichs -- urlichs@smurf.sub.org -- urlichs@smurf.ira.uka.de /(o\ Humboldtstrasse 7 -- 7500 Karlsruhe 1 -- Germany -- +49-721-9612521 \o)/