problems with the ln command

[Fons van der Beek]

> > Hello all,
> >
> >  I am having a bit of a problem with the ln command.
> > If i give the command
> >
> >     ln -s "/data/mp3/Nelly" "/datastore/alfabet/N/Nelly"
> >
> > Then I expect only in the directory "/datastore/alfabet/N/"
> > a symboly link named  "Nelly" being created.
> > BUT also (!) in  "/data/mp3/Nelly" a symbolic link "Nelly"
> > is created and it is referenced to /data/mp3/Nelly
> > (there was already a directory calles "DaDerrty.......blablabla)
> >
> > drwxrwxrwx    3 apache apache  4096 Jul  5 15:12 .
> > drwxrwxrwx  403 apache apache 12288 Jul  4 09:58 ..
> > drwxrwxrwx    2 apache apache  4096 May  5 11:29
DaDerrtyVersionsTheReinven
> > lrwxrwxrwx    1 root   root      15 Jul  5 15:12 Nelly ->
/data/mp3/Nelly
> >
> > What am i doing wrong ?????????????????????????
>
> The ln command looks fine. Are you sure you didn't accidentally create
> the link  Nelly -> /data/mp3/Nelly  when you were trying to create the
> link previously?
nope
>
> Remove the bogus link and the correct link. Then try:
>
> ln -s "/data/mp3/Nelly" "/datastore/alfabet/N/Nelly"
>
> again. Should not get the bogus link.
>
>

(?) Solved (?): Cure found -> illnes unknown
When the target link already exists the the problem occurs!
So:
rm  "/datastore/alfabet/N/Nelly"
ln -s "/data/mp3/Nelly" "/datastore/alfabet/N/Nelly"
is ok, but a second
ln -s "/data/mp3/Nelly" "/datastore/alfabet/N/Nelly"
creates the link in the origin....!

is this is a bug??? or is this RTFM related??
I tried if this problem only occurs on mounted directories but no, it is not
mount related.

Now when i think about it, in the "old days" there was a problem with
symbolic links on a root drive
but that was solved years ago.... (old days = SGI IRIX 4.x or something)