behavior of file(1) in AIX PS/2 v1.1

[Jim C Vlcek]

Guy Harris points out that file(1) changing the change time of a file
is a SysV-ism, and not a problem in AIX.  (Somehow, when I wrote "I'm
sure this is not the intended behavior", I was sure that something
like this would happen...)

The notion that "file" should modify the access time makes perfect
sense to me; the notion that updating the access time should cause the
change time automatically to be updated does not.  This betrays my own
prejudice that one must access a file first in order to modify or
change it - in this state of affairs, the access time and change time
would be synonymous.

I know I'm betraying my ignorance here, but I'll ask anyway:  what do
people find the "change" time useful for?  I always key on the access
time (generally to find "dead" files that no one uses any more that
can be deleted) and the modify time (usually to sniff out files that
have been updated since a distribution was installed).  I don't know
if I've ever looked at the change time.

Jim Vlcek  (vlcek at caf.mit.edu  vlcek at athena.mit.edu)