Shoot , managed to hit send when i didn't mean too -- anyway: But if you're really concerned about avoiding copying, a certain way to do that I would think would be to create a hard link to the new file, then remove the old file. So it's still easily accomplished with an alias and doesn't really need a command. On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 12:30 PM, David Wagle <david.wagle at gmail.com> wrote: > You'll have to explain to me how a rename (which by definition is a change > in place and so doesn't change directory structures) could possibly launch > into a copy? > > > On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 11:57 AM, gregrwm <tclug1 at whitleymott.net> wrote: > >> @david: sounds like you've never been bitten by intending a simple >> rename or move presumably within a filesystem and seeing mv instead >> launch into copying. if i want a copy i'll use cp. and i'll have a >> look before i rm any original. those safety checks you refer to are >> almost entirely around the copy, which i don't even want. rhel rename >> comes with util-linux-ng, ubuntu rename comes packaged with perl, >> neither manpage has the WARNING you mention. reads like the author >> had something ominous in mind but they don't say what. would rename >> consent to lose a directory within it's children? you mean to suggest >> mv protects you in some important way from something rename might do? >> my understanding of mv is if rename(2) succeeds, it's done, but if >> not, well that's when the trouble begins.. >> >> @munir: and there is no reliable test for "same filesystem". even >> /proc/mounts is not always reliable, eg with persistence ala >> overlayfs, or if /proc itself is unavailable, eg in a chroot >> _______________________________________________ >> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota >> tclug-list at mn-linux.org >> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://mailman.mn-linux.org/pipermail/tclug-list/attachments/20140716/aa3370d9/attachment.html>