uutils / uutils/coreutils

cp: when copying hardlink over itself, the backup should also be a hardlink

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U - cp
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

When copying hardlink over itself, the backup should also be a hardlink, and its creation announced if -v was given.

$ rm -f README.md~ && cp -vlbf README.md README.md && ls -1i README.md*
'README.md' -> 'README.md~'
20092600 README.md
20092600 README.md~
$ rm -f README.md~ && cargo run -q cp -vlbf README.md README.md && ls -1i README.md*
20092600 README.md
20074037 README.md~

Found while reading https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/6496, but only remotely related.

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Research direction

Reproduce the issue with the two cp -vlbf README.md README.md commands and compare the inode numbers and verbose output. Start at the cp command entry point, then trace self-copy backup handling; done means the backup shares the source inode and its creation is announced with -v.

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
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
45/100

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