UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Since directory can have same inode number under different physical file system, what about files? Can they have the same inode number across them? Thanks.

This should summarise it for you. It's for Linux so just think Solaris devices instead of /dev/hda

Edit: I should probably add the following to this. Hard links will share an inode number - soft links (unless you're soft linking across physical filesystems and are *very* lucky) will not.

Cheers
ZB

Thank you. But regardless of any soft link or hard link. I am asking
across different pysical file sytems, for our case, directories can have same inode number as we see that /var/sadmbin has inode number 4 on the /usr filesystem. On /var, sadm has inode number 4, on the /var filesystem. /usr can therefore have inode number 4. Can file have the same inode number? Again, assume, I have no hard link or soft link. So far I did not find any same inode number for files across /, /usr, and /var, but is it for all the cases? Thanks a lot.