Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!haven!decuac!hussar.dco.dec.com!mjr
From: mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. Ranum)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.ultrix
Subject: Re: Tar - max filename length 100; why ?
Message-ID: <1990Oct9.143644.13028@decuac.dec.com>
Date: 9 Oct 90 14:36:44 GMT
References: <3549@syma.sussex.ac.uk> <1764@riscy.enet.dec.com> <469@bcstec.UUCP>
Sender: news@decuac.dec.com (Network News)
Reply-To: mjr@hussar.dco.dec.com (Marcus J. Ranum)
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Ultrix Resource Center
Lines: 13

In article <469@bcstec.UUCP> bachesta@bcstec.UUCP (Jim Bachesta) writes:

>There is a mistake in the above recommendation. The tar format is a
>standard. As part of the structure of this standard, it defines a length 
>of 100 characters for the file name and path.

	On the other hand, if someone develops something significantly
better, and enough people start using that, it'll be a "standard" as well.
It might not even have the standard limitations. :)

Remember - standardization is an ongoing process - much like evolution.

mjr.