[PATCH] adding two new options to 'cp'

[Oliver Fromme]

Eric Anderson <anderson at centtech.com> wrote:
 > I'm tired of trying to use rsync or gcp (which doesn't like symlinks 
 > often) to copy trees of files/directories using hard links, so I added 
 > the gcp-ish options -a and -l.
 > 
 > -a is 'archive' mode, which is just a quick form of -PpR.

-P is the default anyway, so -a would only replace -Rp.
I don't think saving one letter justifies introducing a new
option.  You can use an alias or shell function.

 > -l is 'link' mode, where regular files get hard linked instead of copied.
 > 
 > So, you can mimic an entire tree with something like:
 > 
 > cp -al /from/ /to/
 > 
 > and it's fast too!

You can do the same with existing tools in a portable
(and thus preferable) way:

cd /from; find -d . | cpio -dumpl /to

Best regards
   Oliver

-- 
Oliver Fromme,  secnetix GmbH & Co. KG, Marktplatz 29, 85567 Grafing
Dienstleistungen mit Schwerpunkt FreeBSD: http://www.secnetix.de/bsd
Any opinions expressed in this message may be personal to the author
and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of secnetix in any way.

"With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine.  However, this
is not necessarily a good idea.  It is hard to be sure where
they are going to land, and it could be dangerous sitting
under them as they fly overhead." -- RFC 1925