The function std.file.readLink attempts to convert a char[2048] to a char* implicitly, causing any code calling it to result in a compiler error. Test Case: import std.stdio; import std.file; void main() { string Path = readLink("/proc/self/exe"); writefln(Path); } Output: /usr/include/d/dmd/phobos/std/file.d(1834): Error: function core.sys.posix.unistd.readlink (in const(char*), char*, ulong) is not callable using argument types (const(char*),char[2048LU],ulong) /usr/include/d/dmd/phobos/std/file.d(1835): Error: cannot implicitly convert expression (buffer) of type char[2048LU] to char* Fix: Just add a .ptr when calling the core.sys version. As an unrelated issue, readLink will also truncate without warning if the path resolves to more than 2047 characters, but I'm not sure if that's worth opening a separate bug report for.
This is very bizarre, because the unit tests compile and run just fine for readLink. But your example does indeed fail to compile.
https://github.com/D-Programming-Language/phobos/pull/294
Fix pulled back in Oct 2011. Closing.