An alias can be used anywhere you can use a file or folder

• Soft Links (ln -s original alias)
• can cross the file system,
• allows you to link between directories,
• has different inode number and file permissions than original file,
• permissions will not be updated,
• has only the path of the original file, not the contents.
• Hard Links (ln original copy)
• can't cross the file system boundaries (i.e. A hardlink can only work on the same filesystem),
• can't link directories,
• has the same inode number and permissions of original file,
• permissions will be updated if we change the permissions of source file,
• has the actual contents of original file, so that you still can view the contents, even if the original file moved or removed.

Leo Laporte gives you helpful tips to get the most from your Mac every week on Hands-On Mac.

Host: Leo Laporte

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