GNU bug report logs - #52115
Suggestion: LN command should swap TARGET and LINK_NAME if LINK_NAME already exists

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Message #53 received at submit <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Rainer Canavan <coreutils <at> canavan.de>
To: bug-coreutils <at> gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#52115: Suggestion: LN command should swap TARGET and LINK_NAME if LINK_NAME already exists
Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2021 00:20:12 +0100

On November 27, 2021 9:41:07 AM GMT+01:00, Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu> wrote:
>On 11/25/21 15:10, Warren Parad wrote:
>> except mv(1) and cp(1) are both "FROM" and then "TO", but ln is backwards
>> from thi, it is "TO" then "FROM"
>
>No, ln is exactly like mv and cp here: the source is the first argument, 
>and the destination is the second.
>
>If this isn't clear, perhaps we should make the documentation clearer; 
>but we shouldn't change ln's behavior, as many people and programs rely 
>on the current behavior, and the current behavior is more logical once 
>you understand how file systems work.


Just as an anecdote, for me personally the confusion about source and destination had its primary source in the way ls -l displays links as dest -> src. Since the direction of that arrow has been the same since basically forever, I don't think that should be changed, so I don't have any suggestions how this could possibly be "fixed".

Regards,

Rainer 

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