[Python-Dev] hard linking executables

[Dan Stromberg]

It's been suggested that *ix has hardlinks because someone thought up
hardlinks before someone thought up symlinks - IOW, there are those who
suggest that if people had added symlinks first, no one would've bothered
adding hardlinks.

Symlinks are almost always more flexible, and almost always more clear.

The main counterexample seems to be rsync-based backup systems, that will
hardlink identical files of a given pathname.  But that seems to be a bit of
a mess when it comes time to transfer such a backup from one filesystem to
another.

On Tue, Jul 26, 2011 at 3:32 PM, Barry Warsaw <barry at python.org> wrote:

> On Jul 27, 2011, at 12:19 AM, Antoine Pitrou wrote:
>
> >Ok, apparently the decision to make hard links for executables dates at
> >least back to:
>
> That still doesn't explain *why* hardlinks were originally chosen instead
> of
> symlinks.  In the absence of any other compelling argument against it, I
> think
> they should all consistently be symlinks.  I don't see any Ubuntu or Debian
> (where /usr/bin/python3 -> python3.2) bug reports indicating any problems,
> and
> I haven't experienced any issues with it personally.
>
> >changeset:   16221:588691f806f4
> >branch:      legacy-trunk
> >user:        Neil Schemenauer <nascheme at enme.ucalgary.ca>
> >date:        Wed Jan 24 17:11:43 2001 +0000
> >files:       Makefile.pre.in
> >description:
> >Flat makefile based on toplevel Makefile.in and makefiles in build
> >subdirectories.  Those other makefiles will go away eventually.
> >
> >[...]
> >
> >+# Install the interpreter (by creating a hard link to python$(VERSION))
> >+bininstall:    altbininstall
> >+       -if test -f $(BINDIR)/$(PYTHON); \
> >+       then rm -f $(BINDIR)/$(PYTHON); \
> >+       else true; \
> >+       fi
> >+       (cd $(BINDIR); $(LN) python$(VERSION)$(EXEEXT) python$(EXEEXT))
> >+
>
> -Barry
>
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