Bob Friesenhahn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Creating a symbolic link requires testing for an existing file, and then (if the file does not exist) creating a new file, and a directory entry to reference it. This requires multiple network transactions with an opportunity for race-conditions.
open() with O_CREAT|O_EXCL also creates a new file, yet that does not subject it to race conditions. symlink() has equivalent semantics to O_CREAT|O_EXCL. It may be that some network filesystems fail to preserve the atomicity; I wouldn't know. But at least for local filesystems, I don't see any problems with symlinks.
Problem with symlinks, and hardlinks for that matter, is portability. Not all systems support them.
Earnie.
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