Subject: bug#73875: cp: there isn't even an option to quit on errors

From: Pádraig Brady <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 20 Oct 2024 14:05:15 +0100

On 19/10/2024 08:45, Dan Jacobson wrote:
> $ cp -a /usr/share/doc/qpdf/manual-html/ ~/Downloads/
> cp: cannot create symbolic link '/home/jidanni/Downloads/manual-html/_static/css/badge_only.css': Permission denied
> cp: cannot create symbolic link '/home/jidanni/Downloads/manual-html/_static/css/theme.css': Permission denied....
> 
> It just keeps rolling on. No way to quit except ^C.
> 
> $ cp --version
> cp (GNU coreutils) 9.4

Well POSIX states that cp should continue upon failure to create a symlink.
An exit early option may be useful.
I don't see such an option with rsync either though, so I'm not sure how generally useful it is.

cheers,
Pádraig