Re: [9fans] union directories

["Douglas A. Gwyn" <DAGwyn@null.net>]

rog@vitanuova.com wrote:
> if i type:
>         echo hello > /usr/rog/file
> i expect /usr/rog/file to be created if it isn't already there, but
> overwritten if it is.

What you expect is a strong function of what you are accustomed to.
Whether or not the above is desired behavior is about a 50-50
proposition, based on my own experience (with a lot of lost data).

My point about create is that it seems its primary function is to
write an entry into a directory.  Whether or not it should fail if
the entry is already there is debatable, but truncating the content
of the pointed-to file seems like a different function, indeed one
that is already available by open-for-writing.

I think the database people would support the position that the
basic actions need to be atomic, which pretty much means simple.