For a file, it is said that its filename points to its inode. Does it mean that its file name is a data structure that has or is a pointer pointing to its inode?It is also said that its filename is a string. Is this string stored somewhere (perhaps also in a file)?Are the two sayings inconsistent with each other?A hard link cannot link to a file on a different file system, while a soft link can. Is it because a filename pointer cannot point to an inode on a different file system, while a pointer stored in an inode can point to a file content on a differnt file system?
Relation between the filename and inode of a file
filesystems