Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin
Path: utzoo!telly!eci386!woods
From: woods@eci386.uucp (Greg A. Woods)
Subject: Re: tar or cpio, which is better?
Message-ID: <1990Dec2.194839.25190@eci386.uucp>
Reply-To: woods@eci386.UUCP (Greg A. Woods)
Organization: Elegant Communications Inc.
References: <529@comcon.UUCP> <1990Nov12.095657.22489@erbe.se> <1990Nov15.192615.1238@hemel.bull.co.uk> <329@metran.UUCP> <1990Nov21.172717.16845@eci386.uucp> <4322@awdprime.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 2 Dec 90 19:48:39 GMT

In article <4322@awdprime.UUCP> tif@doorstop.austin.ibm.com (Paul Chamberlain) writes:
> In article <1990Nov21.172717.16845@eci386.uucp> woods@eci386.UUCP (Greg A. Woods) writes:
> >They [the standards bodies] are way ahead of you....  POSIX 1003.1
> >defines two portable archive interchange formats: extended tar, and
> >extended cpio.  POSIX 1003.2 Draft 9 / August 1989 defines a programme
> >called "pax - portable archive interchange" which supports both of
> >these formats.  A third new format is under development to "address
> >all restrictions and new requirements for security labeling, etc."
> 
> Is this third format the PAX native format?  I seem to recall that
> PAX had a third format.

No.  The new format will most likely be incompatible with either of
the two current formats.  I don't have a copy of 1003.1, but I don't
think enough has been published about the third format to allow an
expermimental implementation.

The pax we are running has only the two formats, though it has three
user interfaces: tar, cpio, and 1003.2-pax.  The default file format
for the tar and pax interfaces is the extended tar format.
-- 
							Greg A. Woods
woods@{eci386,gate,robohack,ontmoh,tmsoft}.UUCP		ECI and UniForum Canada
+1-416-443-1734 [h]  +1-416-595-5425 [w]    VE3TCP	Toronto, Ontario CANADA
"Political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible"-ORWELL