GNU bug report logs - #62572
cp --no-clobber behavior has changed

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Message #23 received at 62572 <at> debbugs.gnu.org (full text, mbox):

From: Paul Eggert <eggert <at> cs.ucla.edu>
To: Sven Joachim <svenjoac <at> gmx.de>
Cc: Alberto Salvia Novella <es20490446e <at> gmail.com>, 62572 <at> debbugs.gnu.org
Subject: Re: bug#62572: cp --no-clobber behavior has changed
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 2023 14:15:47 -0700

On 2023-03-31 13:37, Sven Joachim wrote:
> On 2023-03-31 13:01 -0700, Paul Eggert wrote:
> 
>> part of the idea was to let shell programmers easily test whether
>> cp successfully copied the data.
> 
> By making them stop using the '-n' option, since they cannot rely on the
> exit code anyway?

Portable code could not rely on the exit status anyway, as FreeBSD cp 
agrees with the new GNU behavior, not the old. See:

https://bugs.gnu.org/61105

It was a messy situation where there was no perfect solution. That being 
said, there is an advantage of consistency with FreeBSD, and the new GNU 
behavior does avoid the race mentioned in Bug#61105.

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