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tar/TODO
2003-07-05 21:06:10 +00:00

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Suggestions for improving GNU tar.
* Incorporate fixes from major distributions, e.g., Debian GNU/Linux.
* Fix tar so that it can read and write POSIX.1-1990 tar archives.
* Add support for POSIX 1003.1-2001 tar archives
(along with technical corrections to the standard since 2001).
* Add support for a 'pax' command that conforms to POSIX 1003.1-2001.
This would unify paxutils with tar.
* Remove command-line incompatibilities between GNU tar and UNIX tar
as specified by UNIX98. The main problems are:
l GNU tar doesn't cross filesystem boundaries.
UNIX98 tar warns if all links cannot be resolved.
(GNU tar has no similar option.)
o GNU tar says output old format.
UNIX98 tar says don't chown files after extracting
(GNU tar uses "--no-same-owner" for this).
Many people rely on GNU tar's "l" and "o" so we can't abruptly change
GNU tar to be compatible with UNIX98 tar.
However, "o" is relatively easy: we can extend GNU tar so that "o" is
a synonym for --no-same-owner when extracting, keeping "o"'s current
semantics when creating. This is a bit of a hack, but it shouldn't
break things.
"l" will be harder, since it's a clear incompatibility. Perhaps we
could announce a phase-in period where "l" changes in semantics.
However, the first step should be to support the UNIX98 semantics,
using a long option, without changing the meaning of "l" for now. That
will give people a migration strategy.
* Interoperate better with Joerg Schilling's star implementation.
* Add an option to remove files that compare successfully.
From: Roesinger Eric <ROESINGE@tce.com>
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:43:43 -0500
It would be useful to be able to use '--remove-files' with '--diff',
to remove all files that compare successfully, when verifying a backup.
* Copyright notice
Copyright (C) 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This file is part of GNU tar.
GNU tar is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
any later version.
GNU tar is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with tar; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.