Re: [boost] Git hardlinks, and developing

Subject: Re: [boost] Git hardlinks, and developing
From: Niall Douglas (s_sourceforge_at_[hidden])
Date: 2013-12-04 14:09:03

On 4 Dec 2013 at 17:13, Edward Diener wrote:

> 1) Symbolic links work for Windows Vista and higher if the user has 
> administrative priveleges.

Incorrect. You can create them if the calling uid has the 
SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege. Granting this to all logged in users 
in the system is trivially achieved, and is one of the first things I 
do on any new Windows install.

> On Windows Vista and higher we should prefer symbolic links for the 
> directories and files in the boost/ subpath if the user has 
> administrative priveleges. Without administrator priveleges on Windows 
> Vista and higher, or in Windows XP and lower, we should use junctions 
> for directory links and hardlinks for the file links.

A simple program can add SeCreateSymbolicLinkPrivilege for the Users 
group if not already present, or just for the local user for the 
paranoid. Then you can work with symlinks on Windows as if you were 
on POSIX (apart from the occasional differences in symlink semantics 
of course).

Needing admin privs is of course a problem for users without access 
to admin privs e.g. in corporations.

Niall

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