.TH LN 1
.UC
.SH NAME
ln \- make links
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B ln
[
.B \-s
]
name1 [ name2 ]
.br
.B ln
name ... directory
.br
.B ln
.B \-f
directory1 directory2
.SH DESCRIPTION
A link is a directory entry referring
to a file; the same file (together with
its size, all its protection
information, etc.)
may have several links to it.
.PP
A link to a file is indistinguishable from the
original directory entry; any changes to a
file are effective independent of the name used
to reference the file.
Links may not span file systems.
.PP
Given one or two arguments,
.I ln
creates a link to an existing file
.IR name1 .
If
.I name2
is given, the link has that name;
.I name2
may also be a directory in which to place the link;
otherwise it is placed in the current directory.
If only the directory is specified, the link will be made
to the last component of
.IR name1 .
.PP
Given more than two arguments,
.I ln
makes links to all the named files in the named directory.
The links made will have the same name as the files being linked to.
.PP
The
.I \-f
flag may be used by the super user to link
.IR directory1 " to " directory2 .
.I Directory2
must not exist.
.PP
The
.I \-s
flag creates a symbolic link rather than a hard link.  Symbolic links are
distinguishable from the original directory entry and may span file systems.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
cp(1), mv(1), rm(1), link(2), readlink(2), stat(2), symlink(2)