Re: Tar ...

CaT (cat@zip.com.au)
Sun, 10 Jan 1999 20:08:08 +1100 (EST)


Bryn Paul Arnold Jones wrote the following:
>
> On Thu, 7 Jan 1999, Riley Williams wrote:
>
> [mumble]
> > I most certainly DID try doing "man tar" and found the very fact I
> > pointed out clearly stated therein. I've just done so again, and I
> > quote from the tar manpage:
> >
> > Q> OTHER OPTIONS
> > Q> :
> > Q> -f, --file [HOSTNAME:]F
> > Q> use archive file or device F (default /dev/rmt0)
> >
> > Perhaps you can advise whether that comment is in YOUR tar manpage as
> > well?
> >
>
> That's in most any tar manpage, and is just plain wrong. I don't think
> I've ever seen a GNU tar where that was true (a SunOS 4.x tar yes, but not
> a GNU tar). tar --help will tell you the default for your tar (at the
> end of the paragraph about not doing posix archives, starting "*This*
> `tar'").

Just to add to this pointless thread... :) If I knew that:

bunzip2 <file> | tar -xv

worked on some boxes while

bunzip2 <file> | tar -xvf -

worked on all (or more) I know which one I'd give out as an answer to
a query.

Better still, I'd answer 'man tar' and 'man bzip2' or tar --help and
bzip2 --help and tell them to contact me if they still have a specific
hassle. Might even provide some additional info which would help
acquire clue from the helpfiles.

-- 
CaT (cat@zip.net.au)                       URL: http://www.zip.com.au/dev/null

There was farting in the air that night, It lit so bright, Fernando...

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