Links are pointers between files. With links, you can have files exist in
many locations and be accessible by many names. There are two types of
links: hard and soft.
Hard links are names for a particular file. They can only exist within a
single directory and are only removed when the real name is removed from
the system. These are useful in some cases, but many users find the soft
link to be more versatile.
The soft link, also called a symbolic link, can point to a file outside of
its directory. It is actually a small file containing the information it
needs. You can add and remove soft links without affecting the actual
file.
Links do not have their own set of permissions or ownerships, but instead
reflect those of the file they point to. Slackware uses mostly soft
links. Here is a common example:
$ ls -l /bin/sh
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 4 Apr 6 12:34 /bin/sh -> bash
|
The sh shell under Slackware is actually
bash. Removing links is done using
rm. The ln command is used to
create links. These commands will be discussed in more depth in
Chapter 10.