[gclist] More questions for the FAQ

boehm.PARC@xerox.com boehm.PARC@xerox.com
Wed, 20 Mar 1996 13:04:11 PST


File systems might be an interesting example.  UNIX file systems use reference
counting consistently.  I believe MS operating systems do not, except for
possibly a count of how many clients have a file open.  There are no hard
links.  Opening a file seems to lock it and prevent updates or at least
deletion.  The view seems to be that a file is "owned" by the directory, and
never by a process that might have it open.

Personally, I've found the MS approach rather annoying.  But I might be doing
things in ways that others wouldn't.  If other people feel the same way, this
might turn into an interesting argument against ownership invariants.

Hans
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