I was reading about symbolic links and hard links. I'm a little confused about hard links.

Let's say I have a file ~/downloads/gaim.tgz and I make a hard link in ~/

Now, the file ~/gaim.tgz is a hard link that has the same inode number as the original file.

The confusion is that will ~/gaim.tgz actually occupy any space on my disk? Or does it report a size of 4MB because it is linked to the original by the inode number?

In other words, the link is just a reflection of the original, so it "appears" to occupy space, right?

This is the way I've understood it.
Whereas, a symlink is simply a "pointer" to said file.

I see. Thanks very much for the confirmation

While we are on this topic, at what point would a hard or a soft link be more beneficial compared to the other. I could look it up I know, and if I don't get a response I will .

Hmm...well the disadvantage of a hard link is that it has to be made on the same partition.
The advantage would be that there is no "pointer" file as a link, but it is a link at a more "hardware" level.

And vice-versa for symbolic links.
I have never used a hard link ever since I started using linux.

If any of you guys have more info, do post it here