Re: lynx-dev Why use copy and not move when saving 'd'ownloaded files?

[Kim DeVaughn]

On Sun, Jul 23, 2000, Frederic L. W. Meunier (address@hidden) said:
|
| Hello. Lynx uses copy (syscall or cp(1)?) when 'd'ownloading files.
| I'd suggest using move since you can have problems with space.

You can only *really* mv(1) a file if both the source and destination
are on the same file system (on most, if not all UNIX's).  If they are
on different filesys's, mv(1) is smart enough to *actually* do a cp(1)
(except perhaps on some old flavors, where even a single-file "mv"
between filesys's will fail).

/tmp (or equivalent) is often on a different filesys than user's $HOME
dirs, so using cp(1) to begin with is, in a sense, more portable.

I've no idea how VMS, OS/390, DOS, etc, handle (the equivalent of) a
copy/delete vs. a rename (aka move), especially if more than one file
system may be involved, but (given sufficient destination space) the
former *always* works.

/kim

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