$ cd /usr/bin $ ls -l python* -rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 9496 Oct 27 02:42 python lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 6 Oct 29 19:34 python2 -> python -rwxr-xr-x 2 root root 9496 Oct 27 02:42 python2.7 $ diff -s python python2.7 Files python and python2.7 are identical $ I'm just curious: Why two identical files rather than a symlink?