In message <43E074A5.9010106@2005.smokva.net>, Petar Bogdanovic writes:
>'ello!
>
>The man-page of ln(1) says:
>
>"-f    Unlink any already existing file, permitting the link to occur."
>
>
>Well, I somehow do not understand the second part of the description.. 
>(permitting the link to occur) but - to be honest - I even don't 
>understand the first part: "Unlink _any_"? Why any, if I supply an 
>argument? (and I think, that I'll always supply ln with an argument)
>
>
>Thank you & with kind regards,


Suppose you say

	ln a b c d e x

where 'x' is a directory.  It should create links x/a, x/b, x/c, x/d, 
and x/e.  What if x/a and x/b already exist?  With -f, it will unlink 
those first; without it, it would produce an error message.

		--Steven M. Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb