On 07/27/06 12:44, Doug Barton wrote:
Oliver Fromme wrote:
Eric Anderson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm tired of trying to use rsync or gcp (which doesn't like symlinks
> often) to copy trees of files/directories using hard links, so I added
> the gcp-ish options -a and -l.
>
> -a is 'archive' mode, which is just a quick form of -PpR.
-P is the default anyway, so -a would only replace -Rp.
I don't think saving one letter justifies introducing a new
option. You can use an alias or shell function.
> -l is 'link' mode, where regular files get hard linked instead of copied.
>
> So, you can mimic an entire tree with something like:
>
> cp -al /from/ /to/
>
> and it's fast too!
You can do the same with existing tools in a portable
(and thus preferable) way:
cd /from; find -d . | cpio -dumpl /to
While I don't want to stifle anyone's creativity, I agree with Oliver (and
other posters) on this one. The Unix way of doing things is small programs
that do their jobs well, tied together to accomplish bigger things.
Doug
Honestly, I agree with the 'Unix way', however if we really took that to
heart, there would be no 'cp' at all. We'd use dd instead, along with
find, and chmod/chown. But we don't - why? Same reason for adding
nearly any option. All the mentions of cpio, pax, tar, etc, are all
great, and I know of them, but they are harder to remember, more typing,
less 'compatible' in some cases (not all), possibly more prone to human
error (typos), etc.
The patch doesn't change any current behavior, nor should it be noticed
by anyone not looking for it. However, it is useful, and it does make
our cp work just like the GNU cp, which eases the migration path for
linux->FreeBSD users.
I suppose I'm just missing the reason *not* to commit such a simple and
useful set of options.
Eric
--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Anderson Sr. Systems Administrator Centaur Technology
Anything that works is better than anything that doesn't.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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