Which statement is true regarding hard links in Linux?

The statement that hard links must reside on the same filesystem is accurate. In Linux, a hard link is essentially a reference to the same inode on the disk. Since each inode is associated with a specific filesystem, hard links cannot point to inodes that belong to different filesystems. Therefore, all hard links created for a specific file will remain on the same filesystem where that original file resides.

When you create a hard link, you are not creating a new inode; rather, you are creating another directory entry that points to the same inode of the original file. This means that there is no additional inode created for the hard link itself, and thus it does not use extra storage beyond the new directory entry.

Additionally, hard links in Linux cannot be used for directories in a typical scenario, as this would create potential complications for the filesystem’s hierarchy and integrity. Instead, links to directories are managed through symbolic links that do not share the same inode association.

These underlying principles of hard links demonstrate how they function within the Linux filesystem architecture and clarify the importance of filesystem boundaries.