Subject: Re: bug#27986: 26.0.50; 'rename-file' can rename files without

From: Richard Stallman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2017 17:33:56 -0400

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I haven't followed the discussion, but I'm told there is a proposal to
make this change:

  > Btw, in case it isn't clear: the issue at hand is an incompatible
  > change to rename-file (and probably also other functions, like
  > copy-file).  Where previously (rename-file A B) with B a directory
  > will move A into B/A, under the proposed change it will only do so if
  > B actually ended in a slash; otherwise it will move A to B, deleting B
  > if it exists.  The incompatibility will manifest itself if some old
  > code expects to get B/A, but instead gets either an error (if B is a
  > non-empty directory) or B silently removed (if it is empty).

Assuming this applies only when directory B is empty, so that this
won't delete non-empty directories, then I don't have any objection.
I would object to deleting non-empty directories here.

Another option that might be good is to make this operation always
signal an error in the case where B is a directory and does not end
with a slash.

I don't have an opinion about which of those two is better.

-- 
Dr Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation (gnu.org, fsf.org)
Internet Hall-of-Famer (internethalloffame.org)
Skype: No way! See stallman.org/skype.html.