From: kankkune@klaava.Helsinki.FI (Risto Kankkunen) Subject: Re: BUG of feature: cannot move `foo' accross file systems Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 10:07:58 GMT
>Note that GNU mv already does something similar with regular files (ie
>it copies them across filesystems and then unlinks the original file if
>the copy was successfull), but symbolic links aren't the only thing mv
>won't touch. Directories, named pipes and any other special files share
>their non-movability with symlinks - understandable, as moving them can
>result in funny behavior (especially trying to move a directory by
>copying it and then removing it is so fraught with race-conditions that
>it's not really worth it).
Well, I maybe didn't realize that moving accross file systems is done in
mv, not in kernel (although I have known this for long, really), so my
first post was a bit confusing. I don't want more functionality to the
kernel itself.
It is, however, annoying that mv handles plain files and symlinks
differently here. And, as I mentioned, there are platforms where you can
actually mv symlinks from fs to another. I understand that moving
directories and other special files is so tricky that it needn't be
handled even in mv.
So, would it be The Right Thing to modify GNU mv? What are the systems
that allow/forbid moving of symlinks accross fs's? Does POSIX say
anything about this? What do you think about splitting this newsgroup?
And what do you think about the situation in Albania?
--
me olemme maailma tiet{v{tk| ne ett{ on jouluaika ollenkaan