Question

Creation of hardlinks that point across partitions is allowed only to root user?

1) is allowed only to root user
2) can be done by all users
3) the effects are unspecified
4) cannot be fixed

Answer 1

The creation of hardlinks across partitions is fundamentally unsupported, and this restriction applies to all users, not just non-root users. It is a limitation of how hardlinks work within file systems, not a permissions issue.

Step-by-step explanation:

The creation of hardlinks across different partitions is not something that is supported by file systems. Hardlinks are designed to work within the same file system, which means they cannot reference files outside of the partition they reside in. This restriction is not about permissions; it is about how hardlinks fundamentally work. Therefore, neither the root user nor other users can create hardlinks that point to files across different partitions. If you attempt to create a hardlink to a file on a different partition, you will generally receive an error message indicating that the operation is not permitted.