[TriLUG] Moving a subdirectory tree

[Benjamin Reed]

Tom Bryan [tbryan@python.net] wrote:
> Actually, both commands below preserve timestamps for files and directories.  
> Neither one seems to preserve the timestamps for symlinks, and I can't get 
> touch to operate on the symlink.  When I touch the symlink with an explicit 
> time, it updates the target of the link.  For example, 

Err... actually, I answered without really realizing what you were saying.
As far as I understand, symlinks don't really have any timestamp info
themselves, only the target does.  How it's displayed by 'ls' is pretty
much indeterminate, spec-wise.  Touching a symlink will always update the
file that's symlinked, not the link itself.  Someone correct me if I'm
wrong, but I think the answer is that you can't update the link's date, it's
just an artifact of the filesystem creating the link.

-- 
Ben Reed a.k.a. Ranger Rick (ranger@befunk.com)
http://defiance.dyndns.org/ / http://radio.scenespot.org/
Frankenstein was the creator -- not the monster.  It's a common
misconception, held by all truly stupid people. -- Kryten