FW: zic using hardlinks:-(

[John Cowan]

Andreas Jaeger schrieb:

> I see three possibilities:
> - changing the link call in zic.c to symlink. 
> - if link fails with error EXDEV (oldpath and newpath are not on the
>   same filesystem) retry with a symlink.
> - leave it the way it is.

I suggest a slightly more complex, but more generally useful, solution.
Have a configuration variable such as HAVE_SYMLINKS.  If defined, use
a symlink always.  If not defined, try to make a hard link, and if that
fails, copy the file.  Hard links (and copies) are Posix, but symlinks
are not, and those of us who use Posix-but-not-Unix will not be pleased
if symlinks are the only option.

> Should symbolic links used in general or only for localtime?

In the main directory, only hard links should be used; this permits people
who wish to do so, to delete any undesired entries without worrying about it.
Symlinks are suitable when there is a "real name" and an "alias", but in
the tz context it is not clear that any name is "realer" than any other.
Hard links preserve this equality.

-- 
John Cowan					cowan at ccil.org
		e'osai ko sarji la lojban.