Replace a symlink with a copy of its target.

linky.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -e

symlink=$1

main() {
  enforce_usage
  if [[ -h $symlink ]]; then
    remove_and_copy
  fi
}

remove_and_copy() {
  # c.f. http://superuser.com/questions/303559/replace-symbolic-links-with-files
  dir=$(dirname "$symlink")
  reltarget=$(readlink "$symlink")
  if [[ $reltarget == /* ]]; then
    abstarget=$reltarget
  else
    abstarget=$dir/$reltarget
  fi

  rm -fv "$symlink"
  cp -afv "$abstarget" "$symlink" || {
    # on failure, restore the symsymlink
    rm -rfv "$symlink"
    ln -sfv "$reltarget" "$symlink"
  }
}

enforce_usage() {
  if [[ -z $symlink ]] || [[ ! -h $symlink ]]; then
    usage
  fi
}

usage() {
  echo -e "Replaces a symlink with a copy of its target."
  echo -e "usage: `basename $0` [<symlink>]"
  # echo -e "       `basename $0` [<former_symlink>]"
}

main