@bkuhn just recompile coreutils with https://gnu.wildebeest.org/~mark/ls.patch
$ src/ls -l y
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 mark mark 1 mei 2 23:57 x <- y
That bug fails to notice that it is using confusing language in the documentation.
ln TARGET LINK_NAME
the target can reasonably be assumed to be the file that is created. But in the case of ln, it's the target *of* the file that is created.
I think that is where my confusion stems from, and I think this language should be updated.
I can't quite think of a good replacement for TARGET, though.
@bkuhn @mjw
Anyone who tries to parse the ls output for symlink status rather than using https://manpages.debian.org/trixie/coreutils/stat.1.en.html (and doesn't do so in a shell with potential output-changing environment variables cleared) deserves for their scripts to be broken.
ls is an interactive program, its output should not be considered parseable.
@bkuhn @vagrantc @mjw
Oh no. That was discussed in a bug report that this thread links to, but that's a terrible idea.
This is about adding an *option* to ls to swap the symlink and what that points to around in the ls output.
@bkuhn @vagrantc @mjw
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I know I'm late to the show but I just wanted to offer my support here.
Yeah, this is _annoying_. It _feels_ very much like an anti-pattern and it's just one more bit of data I have to either hang on to or remember _every_ time I wanna make a `ln` that I'll have to _read_ the docs.
Meh! I don't wanna read the amazing docs that someone spent a lot of time on! I wanna make a `ln` and go about my day!
<3
I have realized since this thread started that my dyslexia does play a role here. The order letters and words come in is never intuitive to me anyway, so I have to memorize some rule. Others in the thread have pointed out it's intuitive to them so they don't have to think about it, but I don't think even the args to `mv` or `cp` were ever intuitive to me either — I just memorized the order in some manner that doesn't extend properly to `ln` in my mind.
Cc: @argonaut