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@ccil.org e'osai ko sarji la lojban.