Exam 312-49v10 topic 1 question 20 discussion

This Linux book here explains it https://www.amazon.com/CompTIA-Linux-Certification-Second-XK0-005-ebook/dp/B0BKTVGWMN/ if 1, file still exists

With the standard Linux second extended file system (Ext2fs), a file is deleted when the inode internal link count reaches 0. Explanation: In the Linux second extended file system (Ext2fs), an inode is a data structure that stores information about a file, such as its permissions, ownership, size, and location on disk. Each file in the file system is represented by an inode. The inode internal link count is a field within the inode that counts the number of hard links pointing to the inode. When a new hard link is created to a file, the inode internal link count is incremented by 1. When a hard link is deleted, the inode internal link count is decremented by 1. When the inode internal link count reaches 0, it means that there are no more hard links pointing to the file. This indicates that the file is no longer in use and can be deleted. At this point, the file system marks the inode and the blocks containing the file's data as available for reuse. Therefore, with the standard Linux second extended file system (Ext2fs), a file is deleted when the inode internal link count reaches 0.