[lug] Tools to navigate Unix links backwards?

[Paul E Condon]

On 20100726_091619, Vince Dean wrote:
>  On 7/24/2010 6:57 AM, Davide Del Vento wrote:
> > Yes, I know (and love!) tree. It is one of the first thing I install
> > these days (in the ole time it came by default in most distro, sadly
> > not anymore...)
> >
> > I am just wondering how does it help with your initial problem (still
> > in the subject) on navigating sys and hard links backwards.
> Yes, tree is only tangentially related to my stated problem.  The larger
> problem, implied
> by my explicit question, was to understand a fairly complex legacy
> directory structure.

Some questions: 
(Maybe don't answer them all here. But think about the answers.)
What type of system uses this directory structure? Do you have any
feeling for whether or not the complexity is required by the system
requirements, or is just a matter of personal preference of the
implementer?  Is the complex linking in the directory structure in any
way visible to the end users? 

How big is it? i.e. how many distinct fully qualified file names
(including symlinks, or not) and how many distinct inode numbers?
(And is it all on one partition, or are there several partitions
having disjoint sets of inodes?) What about the organization that owns
the system. Is it a business? What size? How many management layers
above you up to a real decision maker? 

My intuition is that the implementation is fairly well outside the
mainstream of software systems design. Developing a deep understanding
of it will take time. It seems to me that maintenance of the system
would require the kind of software that you are asking help in finding.
How was it maintained by your predecessor(s)? Was there maintenance?
Really?

After you have developed some understanding of what is there. It seems
to me you will want to have some sort of diagnostic tool that will 
tell you what will be the consequences of any proposed change to the
system, so that the change can be made with a minimum of surprise.
What are the prospects of being able to implement that tool?

> 
> tree will help me with that broader task.
> 
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-- 
Paul E Condon           
pecondon at mesanetworks.net