Re: ln tool problem (file-utils 4.1)

[Bob Proulx]

> ln -s /usr/src/linux/include/linux /usr/include/linux
> 
> What happened was that everything under /usr/include seemed to be a copy of
> the original.
> I could see that by putting a new file in directory
> /usr/src/linux/include/linux and it would not show up in  /usr/include/linux

It sounds like you created a symlink from /usr/src/linux/include/linux
to /usr/include and not to /usr/include/linux.

> The directory /usr/include did not exist yet before entering the command.
> Then I created the directory /usr/include

It seems strange that you would not have /usr/include.  That is a
standard part of the system.  If you had to make the directory it
would mean that you would be missing a large number of important
system files that reside in that directory.

> When I entered ln -s /usr/src/linux/include/linux /usr/include/linux,
> the result is that what the manual indicates
> In directory /usr/include there was a link
> linux->/usr/src/linux/include/linux

What you describe sounds like correct behavior.

> There are two possibilities :
> *The above problem is a bug
> *The above feature should be documented in the man pages.

I am sorry but I could not follow your discussion here.  The ln -s
command operates the same regardless of directory.  Perhaps you could
reduce this to a small test case in /tmp, say 'ln -s a b' and such of
that form.  A small illustrative example would be most useful in
getting to the root cause of any problem.

Thanks
Bob