From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 15702 invoked by alias); 1 Apr 2013 19:52:29 -0000 Mailing-List: contact cygwin-developers-help@cygwin.com; run by ezmlm Precedence: bulk List-Id: List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: cygwin-developers-owner@cygwin.com Mail-Followup-To: cygwin-developers@cygwin.com Received: (qmail 15669 invoked by uid 89); 1 Apr 2013 19:52:22 -0000 X-Spam-SWARE-Status: No, score=-1.8 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,RCVD_IN_DNSWL_NONE,RCVD_IN_HOSTKARMA_YE autolearn=ham version=3.3.1 Received: from mho-02-ewr.mailhop.org (HELO mho-02-ewr.mailhop.org) (204.13.248.72) by sourceware.org (qpsmtpd/0.84/v0.84-167-ge50287c) with ESMTP; Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:52:18 +0000 Received: from pool-108-49-99-250.bstnma.fios.verizon.net ([108.49.99.250] helo=cgf.cx) by mho-02-ewr.mailhop.org with esmtpa (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1UMkm8-000KOD-UZ for cygwin-developers@cygwin.com; Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:52:16 +0000 Received: from localhost (ednor.casa.cgf.cx [192.168.187.5]) by cgf.cx (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1E02060610 for ; Mon, 1 Apr 2013 15:52:16 -0400 (EDT) X-Mail-Handler: Dyn Standard SMTP by Dyn X-Report-Abuse-To: abuse@dyndns.com (see http://www.dyndns.com/services/sendlabs/outbound_abuse.html for abuse reporting information) X-MHO-User: U2FsdGVkX19SwxMI3bOp386wSpEB/kDL Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2013 19:52:00 -0000 From: Christopher Faylor To: cygwin-developers@cygwin.com Subject: Re: native symlink Message-ID: <20130401195216.GA7174@ednor.casa.cgf.cx> Reply-To: cygwin-developers@cygwin.com Mail-Followup-To: cygwin-developers@cygwin.com References: <20130327151656.GB5860@calimero.vinschen.de> <80C3E267-F369-4FF3-A3FD-69A997FFC33B@mac.com> <5153759A.7080307@cygwin.com> <79518574-72AB-451F-ACE3-3277981987D5@mac.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <79518574-72AB-451F-ACE3-3277981987D5@mac.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-06-14) X-SW-Source: 2013-04/txt/msg00005.txt.bz2 On Mon, Apr 01, 2013 at 12:24:51PM -0700, James Gregurich wrote: >On Mar 27, 2013, at 3:41 PM, Larry Hall wrote: >>On 3/27/2013 5:53 PM, James Gregurich wrote: >>>Why don't you add an API call and utility to actually convert an >>>existing > cygwin symlink into a native symlink. I'll give you code >>>that does the work. Cygwin already reads and uses the native symlinks. >>>you might as well provide a way to create them. >> >>The main list is really the right place to make Cygwin feature >>requests. > >I'm using this list because this is where I found the original debate >on the subject. I wanted to add my voice. > > >>Patches to the DLL can go to cygwin-patches. Other code can go to the >>main list as well. >> >>As for why this hasn't been done before, some of it is just no one has >>done it. > >I have. I am actively using a version of cygwin with a modified DLL >that implements use of native symlinks. I've previously described the >work I've done. I've offered up my code. I never really got rational, >technical reasons for why such support was a bad idea. If you're referring to this: http://sourceware.org/ml/cygwin-developers/2012-12/msg00000.html Then I did respond later in the thread. So, please don't claim that I'm irrational or nontechnical. To summarize my objection: It doesn't sound like the native symlink can be made to completely emulate a Linux symlink. That has always been the problem with Windows symlinks. >What I am lobbying for... As Larry indicated, this is not the mailing list for "lobbying" however, to save you the trouble of moving to the cygwin mailing list: As I (and Corinna) have said before, I'd rather not complicate the labyrinthian path handling code by introducing a new API. I don't really see why one would be needed. However, if you think it's a great idea to have a utility which does stuff to and with native symlinks then that's something that you could write yourself and propose to be included in the Cygwin distribution. That would be something you could discuss in the cygwin mailing list and, ultimately, the cygwin-apps mailing list. cgf