'Copy-Item -Recursive <source folder> <target folder>' doesn't copy symlink as 'cp -r' does on Linux

[daxian-dbw]

Steps to reproduce

echo test > /tmp/test.txt
mkdir /tmp/source > $null
New-Item -Force -ItemType SymbolicLink -Target /tmp/test.txt -Path /tmp/source/link > $null
Copy-Item -Recurse /tmp/source /tmp/dest
cp -r /tmp/source /tmp/dest2

Expected behavior

Copy-Item -Recursive should copy the symbolic link to /tmp/dest, just like cp -r

ls /tmp/dest -l
link -> /tmp/test.txt

Actual behavior

bash:80> ls /tmp/dest -l
total 4
-rw-rw-r-- 1 auser auser 12 Oct 25 16:30 link
bash:81> ls /tmp/dest2 -l
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 auser auser 13 Oct 25 16:32 link -> /tmp/test.txt

Environment data

> $PSVersionTable
Name                           Value                                                               
----                           -----                                                               
PSVersion                      6.0.0-beta.8                                                        
PSEdition                      Core                                                                
GitCommitId                    v6.0.0-beta.8                                                       
OS                             Linux 4.10.0-37-generic #41~16.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Oct 6 22:42:59...
Platform                       Unix                                                                
PSCompatibleVersions           {1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0...}                                             
PSRemotingProtocolVersion      2.3                                                                 
SerializationVersion           1.1.0.1                                                             
WSManStackVersion              3.0   

[mklement0]

That is indeed problematic.

cp -R's (sensible) default behavior, as you've shown, is to copy symlinks as links, instead of copying their targets, which with directory targets could result in a lot of unwanted content getting copied.
Wanting to copy link targets requires opt-in via -L, for instance.

While on Windows this default behavior is unfortunately reversed in xcopy.exe and robocopy.exe, these utilities at least offer opt-ins for copying links as such: /B and /SL, respectively.

It looks like, due to its age, this issue has fallen through the cracks; please label it appropriately so it can be revived.