GNU bug report logs - #17578
cp(1) man page: behavior of "cp -R dir target" on symbolic links is unclear

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From: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
To: Vincent Lefevre <vincent <at> vinc17.net>, 17578 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: bug#17578: cp(1) man page: behavior of "cp -R dir target" on symbolic links is unclear
Date: Sun, 25 May 2014 12:13:42 +0100

On 05/24/2014 04:07 PM, Vincent Lefevre wrote:
> The cp(1) man page does not describe the behavior on symbolic links
> when copying recursively. It appears that in such a case, cp does not
> dereference the links (this is also what the info file says: "When
> copying from a symbolic link, `cp' normally follows the link only
> when not copying recursively."). Tested with cp (GNU coreutils) 8.21
> on Debian/unstable.
> 
> As the usual behavior of utilities on symbolic links is to follow the
> links, this may be surprising to the user who only reads the man page
> (even if he knows POSIX, as POSIX doesn't specify the behavior if
> only -R is used).
> 
> So, the man page should say that by default (e.g. without -H, -L, -P),
> cp follows source symbolic links only when not copying recursively.

I suppose we could adjust --help (and thus the man page) like:

  -  -R, -r, --recursive          copy directories recursively
  +  -R, -r, --recursive          copy directories recursively (implies -P)

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