Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!bellcore!att!mcdchg!ddsw1!olsa99!mje From: mje@olsa99.UUCP (Mark J Elkins) Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions Subject: Re: Unix without tar? Message-ID: <74@olsa99.UUCP> Date: 1 Sep 89 11:06:56 GMT References: <216@bbxeng.UUCP> Organization: Olivetti Africa Lines: 32 From article <216@bbxeng.UUCP>, by scott@bbxeng.UUCP (Engineering): > In article <10889@smoke.BRL.MIL> gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn) writes: > >In article jes@mbio.med.upenn.edu (Joe Smith) writes: > >>Recently, someone asserted that tar archives aren't a suitable > >>distribution format because they aren't understood by every Unix. > > > >"tar" archives may not be suitable, but it's not because "tar" is > >unavailable. Every AT&T UNIX release since 7th Edition (around 1978) > >has included some version of "tar"; it's "cpio" that may not exist > >everywhere (particularly 4.2BSD-based systems). > > That's not entirely correct. I've seen some 3b2 machines without tar. > We still ship product for the 3b2 in cpio format because of this. > (Note: 3b2 is an AT&T box). Thats quite true! Back in the days of 3b2 300/310/400, Tar is (was) only on a 3B2 if you had a Tape Streamer (the old 23 Mb one) - theory being - all software was supplied on "floppy's with files systems." CPIO was used to "pass" the info onto the AT+T. You got "tar" as part of the "Cartridge Tape Utilities" floppy. Maybe part of the campaign to oust "tar" and bring in "cpio". Who cares - I use "afio". (Did anyone fix the cpio -ic Bug ??? ("Portable" ascii headers) - when restoring files with numeric file names (eg /usr/lib/terminfo) - You sometimes get "End of Media"...) -- /"""\ Mark J Elkins, Olivetti Africa, Unix Software Support |o.o| UUCP: {ddsw1 | olgb1 | olnl1} !olsa99!mje \_=_/ mje@olsa99.UUCP (mje@olsa99.uunet) #define DISCLAMER