i think the symlink option can be added now, since it doesn't break compatibilty, and hen we can continue to argue about which way is actually better.
the thing that i don't get about the posic argument is: is there a posix exists() function? if not, then how is posix relevant?
i agree that functions which are equivalent to posix should also have equivalent behaviour. but for any other functions that we make up, we also get to make up how they behave.
i don't think that a posix concept of existance matters as much...
also, i have the impression that pike is a rather posix-less language, a lot of posix stuff like popen(), etc, that exists eg in python has a much better interface in pike instead, moving pike to a higher level. i'd like to support that trend. if you want posix, use c :-)
greetings, martin.