[rox-devel] Dereferencing Symbolic Links?

[Eric G. <ep...@pr...>]

Why does rox insist on dereferencing all symbolic links?  This
annoys me both at home and at work, where many of the directories
i use are auto-mounted via amd (http://www.am-utils.org/).  amd
works via symlinks, and you are *not* supposed to dereference them.
When you do, amd thinks the directory is no longer in use, removes
the symlink, and unmounts the directory.

What this means is that i leave a rox window looking at an auto-mounted
directory for a few minutes.  When i come back the window vanishes
and rox reports that the directory has vanished.

This is just one practical example of how dereferencing symlinks
is bad.  It shouldn't be done anyway, as it defeats the entire
purpose of making a symbolic link in the first place.  Sure,
sometimes they are made to provide compatability with an old
location, but more often they are made because that's where someone
(the admin, the user, etc.) wanted the file to be referenced.

-- 
Eric Gillespie <*> ep...@pr...

Conformity is a sin.