rsync silently changes special files to regular ones!

[Paul Slootman]

On Fri 12 Sep 2003, jw schultz wrote:
> > 
> > i did:  "rsync localhost::rsync/readme /dev/stdout" given the hype
> > "rsync(1) is an improved cp(1)" (which it is, no doubt about that)
> 
> I don't know where you got that idea.  You keep repeating it
> despite its obvious incorrectness.  I certainly would not
> describe rsync as an improved cp.  An improvement on rcp,
> sure, but not an improved rcp either.  I see nothing in the
> manpage or web site to indicate that its general behaviour
> bears any equivalence to cp.

>From the manpage:

       You  can  also  use rsync in local-only mode, where both the source and
       destination don´t have a ´:´ in the name. In this case it behaves  like
       an improved copy command.

For me it's quite understandable that people then get the idea that
"rsync(1) is an improved cp(1)".


Paul Slootman