[NTLUG:Discuss] Symbolic link strangeness

[Wayne Walker]

I left out.  This is discussed in "man bash".  But one must know that
it's using bash instead of pwd.  I can't remember how to see if a
command being used is a builtin or not.  "which" will NOT tell you :(

On Sun, Jun 11, 2006 at 08:16:18AM -0500, Wayne Walker wrote:
> Leroy,
> 
> you are using the pwd built into your shell, probably bash.  By default
> it tells you "where you asked to go" not "where you are".
> 
> To see where you really are, use /bin/pwd or pwd -P.
> 
> The first uses the system program which won't lie to you.  The second
> uses the bash builtin pwd and tells it to not lie to you.
> 
> The third thing you can do is, at the command line, or better, in your
> .bashrc file, "set -o physical" tells the bash builtin to not lie to
> you.
> 
> Wayne
> 
> On Sat, Jun 10, 2006 at 11:30:33PM -0500, Leroy Tennison wrote:
> > Trying to figure out kdm on CentOS 4.3.  Found:
> > 
> > cd /usr/share/config/kdm
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ pwd
> > /usr/share/config/kdm
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ ll Xsession
> > lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 22 May  7 05:08 Xsession -> ../../X11/xdm/Xsession
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ cd ../../X11/xdm
> > [leroy at linux-b xdm]$ pwd
> > /etc/X11/xdm                                    Hmmm, why am I not in 
> > /usr/share/X11/xdm?
> > 
> > After a little puzzlement and research
> > 
> > [leroy at linux-b xdm]$ cd /usr/share/config
> > [leroy at linux-b config]$ ll kdm
> > lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root 20 May  7 05:08 kdm -> ../../../etc/kde/kdm
> > 
> > OK, now the puzzlement above makes sense, so I decide to do
> > 
> > [leroy at linux-b config]$ cd kdm
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ pwd
> > /usr/share/config/kdm
> > 
> > Why is pwd showing me /usr/share/config/kdm when I'm really in /etc/kde/kdm?
> > 
> > I know that's where I am because (I had to su because the directory was 
> > Read Only to all but root)
> > 
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ su
> > Password:
> > [root at linux-b kdm]# cat > LeRoY
> > Where am I really?                                                   
> > Ctrl-D on an empty line put me back at the prompt.
> > [root at linux-b kdm]# ll L*
> > -rw-r--r--  1 root root 19 Jun 10 23:19 LeRoY
> > [root at linux-b kdm]# exit
> > exit
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ cd /etc/kde/kdm
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ ll L*
> > -rw-r--r--  1 root root 19 Jun 10 23:19 LeRoY
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ cat LeRoY
> > Where am I really?
> > [leroy at linux-b kdm]$ pwd
> > /etc/kde/kdm
> > 
> > What disturbs me about this is I can't trust the reply of pwd when a 
> > symbolic link is a part of a path.  Is there another command I can use 
> > to tell where I REALLY am instead of where I appear to be?  
> > /usr/share/config/kdm doesn't really exist as a unique directory.
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > http://ntlug.pmichaud.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> 
> -- 
> 
> Wayne Walker
> 
> www.unwiredbuyer.com - when you just can't be by the computer
> 
> wwalker at bybent.com                    Do you use Linux?!
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-- 

Wayne Walker

www.unwiredbuyer.com - when you just can't be by the computer

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