*BSD News Article 12727


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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.development
Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!constellation!osuunx.ucc.okstate.edu!moe.ksu.ksu.edu!crcnis1.unl.edu!wupost!uunet!bcstec!dmp3592
From: dmp3592@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Dean M. Phillips)
Subject: Re: A challenge to all true kernel hackers - conditional symlinks.
Message-ID: <C3qzvC.2ps@bcstec.ca.boeing.com>
Summary: Environment variable expansion in symbolic link creates ambiguity.
Organization: Boeing
References: <JKH.93Mar9214944@whisker.lotus.ie> <C3ow4H.FID@BitBlocks.com> <JKH.93Mar10215639@whisker.lotus.ie>
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1993 23:28:20 GMT
Lines: 15

In article <JKH.93Mar10215639@whisker.lotus.ie> jkh@whisker.lotus.ie (Jordan K. Hubbard) writes:
>The only problem with replacing open() is that you still need to deal
>with things like stat() and any other system call that deals with
>filenames (and follows links) directly.  Note that I wasn't talking about
>usurping the $, (, and ) characters in filenames altogether, only in
>symbolic links.  I don't think that this would be any great hardship.
>
I could create an ambiguity:  How do you create a soft link to a real file
named $(LANG) for example?  Of course I have to admit that I have never
seen a real file with a name of that form.
-- 
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Dean M. Phillips                                    206-294-1024
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group:                   dmp3592@icdfs.ca.boeing.com
Home:                                               dean@deanstoy.wa.com