Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!killer!texbell!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.uu.net (Peter da Silva)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: The horrible UNLINK bug
Message-ID: <3058@sugar.uu.net>
Date: 4 Dec 88 19:46:14 GMT
References: <109@infbsgr.infbs> <501@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>
Organization: Sugar Land Unix - Houston, TX
Lines: 23

In article <501@stag.math.lsa.umich.edu>, hyc@math.lsa.umich.edu (Howard Chu) writes:
> In article <109@infbsgr.infbs> hafer@infbsgr.UUCP (Udo Hafermann) writes:
> >- A process opens and writes to a file;
> >- the file is deleted (unlinked);
> >- the process writes to the handle, which remains accessable,
> >- and then closes the handle.

> Same thing can happen on a Unix system. (Try it some time...)

But on a UNIX system a deleted file is just another file with no name. There's
no problem with it, and when you finally close the file the space will be
re-used... not before. UNIX doesn't care if a file has one, two, ten, or
zero names.

Other operating systems where the file name is part of the file will not
let you delete an open file. This isn't as much fun, but it's just as safe.

Anyone know what MS-DOS does in this case?
-- 
		    Peter da Silva  `-_-'  peter@sugar.uu.net
		     Have you hugged  U  your wolf today?

	          Disclaimer: My typos are my own damn busines#!rne