Re: Error converting from 1.4.4.1 to 1.5.0?

[Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>]

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On Wed, 14 Feb 2007, Nicolas Pitre wrote:
> 
> But...... your pack file is read-only, isn't it?

Almost any "edit in place" operation under UNIX is invariably a question 
of "read old file + write new file + mv new old". 

As such, to be read-only for a lot of programs, you actually need to not 
just make the *file* read-only, you need to make the *directory* read-only 
too. 

Or you need to use only tools that explicitly check (a lot of editors will 
do that, for example, because in an RCS world you're supposed to do magic 
things to actually edit a file).

So I'm not at all surprised that "-pi" (where the "i" stands for 
"in-place") will overwrite read-only files.

I'm sure there is some random character that makes perl check, and not do 
it. Probably a sequence of unusual characters that makes it look like a 
swear-word. 

Maybe "perl -pi -%££@$" will do it. And if not, just add random characters 
until it works. "It's the perl way".

	Linus "Yeah, I never really got the 'perl way'" Torvalds