bzs%bu-cs.bu.edu@bu-it.bu.edu (Barry Shein) (01/31/88)
>2) If the operating system silently implies these standard > relations, why not drop the explicit '..' and '.' entries > altogether and consequently forbid (ignore for the sake of > compability) linking and unlinking of such entries? > Johannes Heuft You still have to store the per-directory inode numbers for . and .. somewhere, the directory seems as good a place as any, at least it's orthogonal. I think all you've discovered is that a super-user can mess up a file system without a great deal of effort, not a design weakness, now go play with clri and tell us your impressions (just joking.) I prefer to think I can get at these or any entries in a straightforward manner if needed (I've salvaged a directory or two in my life by re-linking a sensible . and/or .. to it.) Root can do anything, the best you can do is perhaps make it more complicated by obscuring things. -Barry Shein, Boston University