Re: Symbolic link & Xcode install
Re: Symbolic link & Xcode install
- Subject: Re: Symbolic link & Xcode install
- From: Ashley Aitken <email@hidden>
- Date: Mon, 31 May 2004 22:05:00 +0800
Hi Philipp (et al.),
Thanks for your post.
On 31/05/2004, at 5:07 PM, Philipp Donzi wrote:
I actually chose the boot partition for the install (it allowed me to
do that even though /Developer was not on that partition). The
install completed without error but Xcode is still 1.1. I guess it
just can't find the app across a symbolic link (must be trying hard
to do that ;-) and so doesn't update the app itself.
Probably it's a problem with the symbolic link, there exist 3
different types of symbolic links:
1. a link created using the Finder (dragging a file while pressing
CMD+ALT)
2. a soft link created using the command-line utility: "ln -s
<source> <link>"
3. a hard link created using the same command-line: "ln <source>
<link>"
(only allowed for files on the same partition!)
I encountered the same problem with "type 1" links when using Apache
web services: "the link just doesn't work". When I replaced the "type
1" link (=Finder link / "Alias") with "type 2" link (=soft link)
everything went well.
A good suggestion, but it is a soft link (not an alias or hard link),
so that is not the problem. I am going to delete the receipt and try
the install again, and if that doesn't work (and there is no error
showing up) I will use Pacifist to unpax (sic) the /Developer content.
I don't understand why the Finder creates it's own type of link. (I
suppose this is a compatibility issue with "Classic" / OS 9
environment because HFS has introduced it's own type of link a long
time ago.)
The Finder links (or as they are properly called, as you know, Aliases)
have some neat features that symbolic links don't have. I guess there
is room for all three types, but generally the average user will only
need use the Aliases.
I know all this problem would go away if I only had one partition but I
have found it generally useful to have 4 partitions: one for the
standard OS and developr tools, if they fit ;-), one for local
applications (that I don't want to have to reinstall if I reformat the
boot partition), one for my "data" (including home directories etc),
and one for a scratch partition (that can be used for beta versions of
a new OS or working with large files, e.g. video).
Hopefully, one day Apple will try and make MacOSX more friendly towards
multiple partitions and symbolic links across them (e.g. starting with
changes to pax). It would be nice if the install process (as a
customisation!) allowed you to choose where significant parts of the
filesystem (e.g. /Developer, /Users, /Applications ) go. But then I am
dreaming ...
Cheers,
Ashley.
--
Ashley Aitken
Perth, Western Australia
mrhatken at mac dot com
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