From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links (40)"
when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is given. My work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was to replace the path
with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

In alt.os.linux.slackware, Joseph Rosevear <Mail@JoesLife.org> wrote:

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links (40)"
when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is given. My work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was to replace the path
with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/06/03/rsync-goes-ai-slop-breaks-your-backups/

Yeah, the AI fix to the AI problem will help a lot.

Elijah
------
reliable code is a thing of the past
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Mon, 24 Aug 2026 02:57:04 -0000 (UTC), Eli the Bearded wrote:

In alt.os.linux.slackware, Joseph Rosevear <Mail@JoesLife.org> wrote:

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links (40)"
when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is given. My
work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was to replace the
path with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/06/03/rsync-goes-ai-slop-breaks-your-

backups/

Yeah, the AI fix to the AI problem will help a lot.

Elijah ------
reliable code is a thing of the past

Thanks, Elijah.

I didn't expect to wander into that territory. I really just wanted to
share the bug that I found. Perhaps other rsync users might be
interested. Also, as I've never before found a bug that was worth
reporting, I was hoping to stir up some advice about what to do next.

Still, I hear you. It is indeed a brave new world. I don't know where
you stand on AI assisted programming, but I know it is easy to view it as trouble instead of opportunity.

Best regards,

Joe
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Mon, 24 Aug 2026 02:57:04 +0000, Eli the Bearded wrote:

In alt.os.linux.slackware, Joseph Rosevear <Mail@JoesLife.org> wrote:

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links (40)"
when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is given. My
work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was to replace the
path with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?

https://pivot-to-ai.com/2026/06/03/rsync-goes-ai-slop-breaks-your-

backups/

Yeah, the AI fix to the AI problem will help a lot.

Elijah ------
reliable code is a thing of the past

explains why Wayne walked away, tridge wanted to have an AI wankfest with
the code
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

On Sun, 23 Aug 2026 23:53:24 -0000 (UTC), Joseph Rosevear wrote:

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links (40)"
when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is given. My work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was to replace the path
with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?

Ha! Grok figured it out. It turns out that my work around wasn't a work around. It is the "new normal". The rsync code was revised after recent security concerns. Now it refuses to run, albeit with a cryptic (wrong)
error message when the symlink's owner is neither root nor the effective
user. Claude confirmed this.

Thanks to all who replied. What an interesting mess for Tridgell and
Claude!

-Joe
--- Synchronet 3.22a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

Joseph Rosevear <Mail@joeslife.org> wrote:

On Sun, 23 Aug 2026 23:53:24 -0000 (UTC), Joseph Rosevear wrote:

Rsync appears to have a bug. "Too many levels of symbolic links
(40)" when --exclude-from=<path containing a symbolic link> is
given. My work around, once Claude AI and I found the problem, was
to replace the path with what is given by readlink -f.

I suppose I need to report this?

Ha! Grok figured it out. It turns out that my work around wasn't a
work around. It is the "new normal". The rsync code was revised
after recent security concerns. Now it refuses to run, albeit with a
cryptic (wrong) error message when the symlink's owner is neither root
nor the effective user. Claude confirmed this.

I wonder how openrsync will process your requests. I notice it
does work different than rsync. There is one thing, openrsync
ignores '-z', it does not compress files during txfr.

In case you want to play :)

https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/network/openrsync/?search=openrsync

Thanks to all who replied. What an interesting mess for Tridgell and Claude!

True

-Joe

--
[t]csh(1) - "An elegant shell, for a more... civilized age."
- Paraphrasing Star Wars
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From Newsgroup: alt.os.linux.slackware

John McCue <jmclnx@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

In case you want to play :)

https://slackbuilds.org/repository/15.0/network/openrsync/?search=openrsync

Openrsync is available also in testing/

https://mirrors.slackware.com/slackware/slackware64-15.0/testing/packages/openrsync-20250126_a257c0f-x86_64-1_slack15.0.txz
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