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

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Message #30 received at 17578 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Vincent Lefevre <vincent <at> vinc17.net>
To: Pádraig Brady <P <at> draigBrady.com>
Cc: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>, 17578 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#17578: cp(1) man page: behavior of "cp -R dir target" on
 symbolic links is unclear
Date: Mon, 26 May 2014 11:31:21 +0200

On 2014-05-26 09:59:04 +0100, Pádraig Brady wrote:
> Yes we shouldn't assume users would know that -H and -L would override -P.
> Also --link is recently wound up in this. Hence it's not easy to describe.

It could be described like in the info file.

> We could accurately describe using something like the following, but given
> that the info docs are correct and complete here

Not all users use the info docs (I find man / --help easier to use).

> and that most users use -a anyway which already explicitly considers
> --no-dereference,

That's the point of this bug report: I usually use -a, which implies
--no-dereference, so that I thought that -R alone would avoid this
--no-dereference, but this is not the way cp behaves.

> it's probably best to err on the side of conciseness in the
> man/--help and let users refer to info for complete docs.

That would just be one sentence below the list of options (a bit like
in the info doc).

-- 
Vincent Lefèvre <vincent <at> vinc17.net> - Web: <https://www.vinc17.net/>
100% accessible validated (X)HTML - Blog: <https://www.vinc17.net/blog/>
Work: CR INRIA - computer arithmetic / AriC project (LIP, ENS-Lyon)

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