.TH LN 1 .SH NAME ln, clone \- create a link to a file .SH SYNOPSIS \fBln [\fB\-ifmrRvx\fR] \fIfile\fR [\fIname\fR]\fR .br \fBln [\fB\-ifrRvx\fR] \fIfile\fR ... \fIdir\fR\fR .br \fBclone [\fB\-ifmvx\fR] \fIfile\fR [\fIname\fR]\fR .br .de FL .TP \\fB\\$1\\fR \\$2 .. .de EX .TP 20 \\fB\\$1\\fR # \\$2 .. .SH OPTIONS .FL "\-i" "Ask if ok to remove a file" .FL "\-f" "Remove existing links" .FL "\-m" "Merge trees, disable the into-a-directory trick" .FL "\-rR" "Recursively link a directory tree" .FL "\-v" "Display what ln is doing" .FL "\-x" "Do not cross device boundaries" .SH EXAMPLES .EX "ln file newname" "Make \fInewname\fP a synonym for \fIfile\fP" .EX "ln /usr/games/chess" "Create a link called \fIchess\fP" .SH DESCRIPTION .PP A directory entry is created for .I name . The entry points to .I file . Henceforth, .I name and .I file can be used interchangeably. If .I name is not supplied, the last component of .I file is used as the link name. If more than one .I file is supplied or the .I name refers to an existing directory, links will be created in that directory. An existing .I name will not be removed unless the \fB\-i\fR or \fB\-f\fR flag is specified. .PP .I Clone is a convenient synonym for \fBln \-fmr\fP to create a so-called "link farm", a directory full of links to the original tree. .SH "SEE ALSO" .BR cp (1), .BR link (2), .BR unlink (2).