Re: Fw: [POSSIBLE-BUG] telldir() broken on ext3 dir_index'd directoriesjust after the first entry.

[Jan Engelhardt]

>> >So instead what we need to do is wire '.' and '..' to have hash values
>> >of (0,0) and (2,0), respectively, without ignoring other existing
>> >dirents with colliding hashes.  (In those cases the programs will
>> >break, but they are statistically rare, and there's not much we can do
>> >in those cases anyway.)
>>
>> IMO it's better to fix the mess all at once to have it weeded out for some
>> months.
>
>Programs that assume that '.' and '..' are the first and second [...]
>But there's really not much we can do.
>
>Before, we hard-wired '.' and '..' to always be first [...]
>We don't really have a choice here.
>
>(Actually, I guess we could define a new hash function [...]
>So again, making a best effort, but breaking programs
>that are fundamentally broken is the best we can do.)

Looks like there's only way -- or: two ways and one choice:

- Either leave it all as it is ATM (kind of unsatisfying) or

- (unintentionally) break all apps now, or announce that they could brake if they
relied on special features (as outlined above), and at the same time implement
proper directory traversal.



Jan Engelhardt
-- 
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