From: eds@gvlf9-s.vfl.paramax.com (Ed Skladany) Subject: Re: Bug in 'msdos' file system? Date: Wed, 24 Feb 1993 17:28:30 GMT
In article <1mg293INNmqr@senator-bedfellow.MIT.EDU>, Andrew Haylett <ajh@gec-mrc.co.uk> writes:
|> danubius@halcyon.com (Joseph R. Pannon) writes:
|>
|> : Without knowing the internals too well, my sense is telling me that it's
|> : a BAD IDEA to move files between two file systems, especially between as
|> : different ones as Linux and DOS has. In cases like that the files
|> : probably should be copied, not moved because I imagine mv leaves the
|> : actual data in place and only relinks directory pointers to that data.
|>
|> Hang on, there's some misinformation floating around here. 'mv' is
|> cleverer than that. If the destination is on a different file system
|> from the source, then 'mv' does a copy followed by an unlink. So the
|> alleged problem with the DOS FS is nothing to do either with wrong user
|> action or 'mv' behaviour. And no special kernel action required, either.
Correct, although much earlier versions of some Unix systems (like our Encore)
would print a message like "Can't mv files across filesystems". You
still can't move whole directories across filesystems (in SunOS, at least).
Attempting this gets you this message:
"mv: can't mv directories across file systems".
The problem is not in the mv command itself, or the user action.
-- Ed Skladany | Internet: eds@vfl.paramax.com Paramax Systems, A Unisys Company | UUCP: ...!gvls1!eds Valley Forge Laboratories | Box 517, Paoli, PA 19301 USA