Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!seismo!uunet!std-unix From: std-unix@uunet.UUCP Newsgroups: comp.std.unix Subject: Re: Benefits of CPIO over TAR Message-ID: <933@uunet.UU.NET> Date: Thu, 13-Aug-87 14:31:55 EDT Article-I.D.: uunet.933 Posted: Thu Aug 13 14:31:55 1987 Date-Received: Sun, 16-Aug-87 09:42:27 EDT References: <890@uunet.UU.NET> Sender: news@uunet.UU.NET Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) ) Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD. Lines: 24 Approved: jsq@uunet (Moderator, John Quarterman) From: gwyn@BRL-SMOKE.ARPA (Doug Gwyn ) In article <890@uunet.UU.NET> Jim R Oldroyd writes: >3. Only one version of the `cpio -c' format is currently in use. Ahem. Cray changed theirs. Admittedly that was very short-sighted! >8. Inode numbers are not recorded. Symbolic values (derived from a > file's inode and device numbers) are stored in the header > block. These values are used solely for hard link resolution. Unfortunately, on systems where the cpio fields for this information are not big enough, one can find that the wrong links are planted when files are de-archived. This has actually happened to me. I never did understand what inter-system archive interchange formats had to do with specification of a portable environment for applications. You probably couldn't read my 1/4" tape cartridge no matter what archive format I used on it. This issue seems to be a waste of time for 1003.1 and I recommend that it be delegated to another subgroup, preferably 1003.2 which needs to specify the utility to cope with such archives anyway. Volume-Number: Volume 12, Number 13