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Why can I cd into a shortcut to a directory?

April 26, 2017CD directory shortcut

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Why can I cd into a shortcut to a directory?

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Cygwin versions < 1.3.0 do not follow MS Windows Explorer Shortcuts (*.lnk files). It sees a shortcut as a regular file and this you cannot "cd" into it. Since version 1.3.0, Cygwin uses shortcuts as symlinks by default. Cygwin shortcuts are different from shortcuts created by native Windows applications. Windows applications can usually make use of Cygwin shortcuts but not vice versa. This is by choice. The reason is that Windows shortcuts may contain a bunch of extra information which would get lost, if, for example, Cygwin tar archives and extracts them as symlinks. Changing a Cygwin shortcut in Windows Explorer usually changes a Cygwin shortcut into a Windows native shortcut. Afterwards, Cygwin will not recognize it as symlink anymore.