Re: ctime vs. Create Time

[Bill Sommerfeld <sommerfeld%east.sun.com@localhost>]

unix doesn't have a concept of "creation time".  within the posix
"stat" API, "ctime" is the "last metadata change" time whereas "mtime"
is "last contents change"; "atime" is "last access time".

Note that update of atimes is commonly disabled for performance
reasons.

If you are aiming for "least common denominator", the best you can do
is a single timestamp for the mtime value.

If you are aiming for "model every known filesystem feature relating
to dates", then we'll be here for a while...

					- Bill