Symlinks

[Ambrose]

Knoppix follows symlinks very oddly!

touch 1
echo "1" >> 1
ln -s 1 2
echo "2> >> 2
cat 1
1
2
ls -la:
1
2 -> 1

That works fine, but `vi 2` then make a change, then save (:w!) and your symlink is no longer there:

ls -la:
1
2

The same set of operations done in Slackware keeps the symlink from 1 to 2. In knoppix, there are now 2 different files.

So, what do I have to do to make Knoppix 'listen' to the symlinks. I don’t' know if this is a debian, or a Knoppix thing. I assume it's a knoppix 'feature' though.

Any help is appreciated.

- Ambrose

[garyng]

sounds like an vi feature. Most likely, vi remove the old file(thus the link) and create a real file.

I would suggest to use another editor and see if the same occurs. The cat >> operation suggest that the fs/kernel should be ok.

[Ambrose]

I actually discovered this while using a symlink from /mnt/hda1/etc/passwd -> /etc/passwd

When I added a user, the symlink was gone.

Of couse all other related symlink'd files were changed as well (shadow, group, etc)

Which leads me to believe it is a Knoppix thing. Also, this does not happen in Slackware.

- Ambrose

[garyng]

by add user, you mean using the command 'adduser' ? If that is the case, there must be something wrong with the kernel/fs. Could be the 2.4.21 thingy. I choose to skip this particular version as it seems to do more harm than good, based on what I read on the kernel.org mailing list.

[Ambrose]

uname -a

Linux esper.fqdn 2.4.20-xfs #1 SMP Mit Mär 26 15:37:36 CET 2003 i686 unknown unknown GNU/Linux

[Dave_Bechtel]

--I have found that some different distros can use *very* different versions of the same commands, like ' ln ', ' ls ', ' mkisofs ' and the like. Even ' ps ' can be different in some cases. Also could be different symlink handling depending on what filesystem you're using (ext2, ext3, reiserfs, et al.)

sounds like an vi feature. Most likely, vi remove the old file(thus the link) and create a real file.

I would suggest to use another editor and see if the same occurs. The cat >> operation suggest that the fs/kernel should be ok.

[Ambrose]

This happens where there is no hard drive as well.