Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!topaz.rutgers.edu!ron
From: ron@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Rename bug?
Message-ID: 
Date: 31 May 88 21:12:58 GMT
References: <9312@eddie.MIT.EDU> <467@aiva.ed.ac.uk> <9341@eddie.MIT.EDU> <2144@rpp386.UUCP> <5702@chinet.UUCP>
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Lines: 12

>  Then maybe you like the interval between unlink() and link()
> when your files don't exist. 

This is completely absurd.  From day 1 on UNIX the way to rename
files is to link the file to the new name and unlink the old one.
There is no way to do otherwise (what arguments are you going to
provide to link?).  There is not now, or ever has been a period of
time that the file "doesn't exist."  Once a file has no links in
UNIX, it requires FSCK or someone very talented at manipulating the
raw disks to put it back.

-Ron