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Message-id:	<51E5A8E7.8010307@cygwin.com>
Date:	Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:11:19 -0400
From:	"Larry Hall (Cygwin)" <reply-to-list-only-lh AT cygwin DOT com>
Reply-to:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
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To:	cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject:	Re: How does 'alternatives' find a file?
References:	<E1UzAHj-0005MB-EL AT elasmtp-curtail DOT atl DOT sa DOT earthlink DOT net>
In-reply-to:	<E1UzAHj-0005MB-EL@elasmtp-curtail.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

On 7/16/2013 2:46 PM, Henry Baker wrote:
> I've had to create a cygwin tree from a circa 2011 tar dump, and I've
> had  a devil of a time trying to make it work.
>
> The biggest problem I have right now is that 'alternatives'-style
> symlinks  don't work.
>
> (The "!<symlink>"-style symlinks _do_ seem to work.)

Here's the page from the Users Guide with the information about the
different kind of symlinks:

<http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/using.html#pathnames-symlinks>

Looking at the ones I have in /etc/alternatives, they are the first kind
listed (or the ones that you say work for you).  Make sure the DOS SYSTEM
attribute (and only that attribute) is set.  Also, if the tree doesn't
come from Cygwin 1.7 days and you're not using the same character set as
you were then, you'll need to recreate the symlinks to get them working
again.

-- 
Larry

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
 > Q: Are you sure?
 >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
 >>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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