uutils / uutils/coreutils

bug(ls): when the current cwd swapped to a /dev/null copy file it returns . and .. even must not

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U - ls
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

Hi, uutils mainteners

that issue to be triggered you need 2 terminals,

in the 1st terminal the first step is

$ mkdir z
$ cd z

then create a new terminal and

$ ls

everything from here good it shows . and .. whiches fully good

then go back to the first terminal and then type the following commands

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ rm -rf z
relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug$ cp /dev/null z

back to the second terminal and then type ./ls again as i see .. and . those dir things appeared, even z now swapped and become a file

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug/z$ ../ls -lah
total 82K
drwxrwxr-x  0 relunsec relunsec   2 Jun 18 14:13 .
drwxrwxr-x 11 relunsec relunsec 473 Jun 18 14:13 ..

now try with gnu ls

relunsec@relunsec:~/software/coreutils/target/debug/z$ gnuls -lah
total 0

as you can see it do not output . and .. because now z no longer a dir it is now a file instead and that is the correct
however the uu one outputs . and .. even z is a file now whiches a bug

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the Rust implementation and tests for the ls command, then reproduce the two-terminal sequence that replaces the current directory with a /dev/null copy file. The fix is done when ls treats the path as a file and no longer prints . and .., matching GNU ls.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
cli
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
68/100

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