On Linux you can delete all hardlinks to open files.

What you can't do is modify a file that's executing (program or library), then you get ETXTBSY.

My question was about Windows, yeah on Linux it obviously doesn't matter, because you can unlink it even if there is only a single hardlink. My bad, I should have written it.

> What you can't do is modify a file that's executing (program or library), then you get ETXTBSY.

Why can't you? Couldn't it do the same thing and just keep it in memory?

Edit: Actually on my system, I can start a program, unlink it and keep using it just fine. I wonder what case you are referring to.

ETXTBSY isn't even descriped in unlink(2), but it is in unlink(3posix): ETXTBSY - The entry to be unlinked is the last directory entry to a pure procedure (shared text) file that is being executed.