Date:	Mon, 30 Aug 1999 12:11:49 +0300 (IDT)
From:	Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
X-Sender:	eliz AT is
To:	Laurynas Biveinis <lauras AT softhome DOT net>
cc:	DJGPP Workers <djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com>
Subject:	Re: symlink() & is_v2_prog() question
In-Reply-To:	<37CA34BD.49B37284@softhome.net>
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On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Laurynas Biveinis wrote:

>  - new library function readlink() and its docs, taken from glibc-2.1.1.
>    In fact, glibc-2.1.1 manual is my single source of info about symlinks.

Beware: glibc is under LGPL, so looking too hard inside it might get you 
in legal trouble with your sources and the docs.

>  - new library function lstat() and its docs ("stat() not following 
>    symlinks"), which is, in reality, renamed stat().
>  - adapted stat() to follow symlinks (throwing EMLINK when neccesarry).
>  - new macros in <sys/stat.h> S_ISLNK and S_IFLNK.
>  - updated _PC_LINK_MAX and _POSIX_LINK_MAX. I haven't decided what value
>    put there, because it is limited by stack size and nothing else.
>  - new (taken from glibc) open() flag O_NOLINK, still unimplemented.

I assume you want this to get into libc.a some day.  If so, I would like 
once again to suggest that we discuss the various implications of this 
feature before you invest too much effort (unless you don't mind wasting 
it; most people do).  I'm still wondering what benefits symlinks will 
bring that justify such a thorough rewrite of core library functions.

For example, what would we lose if we simply augment `symlink' with code 
that calls `link' if the target is not a DJGPP executable?  The effect is 
the same (albeit with some disk space wasted), but it's much less hassle 
to implement and it doesn't rock the boat so much.

> Now I am making lstat() to recognize symlinks and set mode bits, then
> I'll update open(). That will be enough for symlinks to files.

What about `remove' and `rename'?  Don't they have any effect on 
symlinks.

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