Os.Symlink' VS 'Ln -S'

How to delete a symbolic link in python?

os.unlink() works for me. It removes the symlink without removing the directory that it links to.

Creating a relative symlink in python without using os.chdir()

You could just set the second argument to the destination, like:

import os
os.symlink('file.ext', '/path/to/some/directory/symlink')

How to overwrite a symlink in Go?

Note that @Vadyus's answer hides actual filesystem errors while running lstat. For example, if your disk is broken and Lstat fails, you will still run os.Remove and ignore its error (DANGEROUS, unless you like to debug things for hours).

The following snippets checks for file existence and other errors correctly:

if _, err := os.Lstat(symlinkPath); err == nil {
  if err := os.Remove(symlinkPath); err != nil {
      return fmt.Errorf("failed to unlink: %+v", err)
  }
} else if os.IsNotExist(err) {
    return fmt.Errorf("failed to check symlink: %+v", err)
}

Too many levels of symlinks?

For some reason, /usr/local/bin/pip is a symlink pointing to itself, and easy_install is getting confused trying to write to it, instead of just deleting it first. You can do that yourself by running

sudo rm /usr/local/bin/pip

then rerunning the installation process.

Create Symbolic Links rather than copy files

Herrmann Schinagl's ln.exe (here) does exactly what you are trying to do - compare, link identical files and copy different ones. All intricate details of symlinks, inner and outer joins are explained with illustrations. The 'DeLorean Copy' should be just the right method.

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