#1150856 rsync: --link-dest doesn't use relative paths anymore

Package:
rsync
Source:
rsync
Description:
fast, versatile, remote (and local) file-copying tool
Submitter:
Kacper Gutowski
Date:
2026-10-13 22:53:49 UTC
Severity:
normal
#1150856#5
Date:
2026-10-13 22:51:35 UTC
From:
To:
Dear maintainer,
After the upgrade from 3.4.1+ds1-5+deb13u4 to 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1
(3.5.1+ds1-1 in forky is also affected), rsync stopped respecting
relative paths for --link-dest option and attempts to use the
corresponding absolute paths instead.  These aren't the same.

Consider the following reproducer:

  $ mkdir -p foo/bar/{baz,quux}
  $ cd foo/bar/baz
  $ chmod -x ../..  # foo
  $ rsync --link-dest=../quux --files-from=- / . < /dev/null

It worked as intended before, but now it results in: