tar/TODO

Suggestions for improving GNU tar.

* Incorporate fixes from major distributions, e.g., Debian GNU/Linux.

* Fix tar so that it can read and write POSIX.1-1990 tar archives.

* Add support for POSIX 1003.1-2001 tar archives
  (along with technical corrections to the standard since 2001).

* Add support for a 'pax' command that conforms to POSIX 1003.1-2001.
  This would unify paxutils with tar.

* Remove command-line incompatibilities between GNU tar and UNIX tar
  as specified by UNIX98.  The main problems are:

     l   GNU tar doesn't cross filesystem boundaries.
	 UNIX98 tar warns if all links cannot be resolved.
	   (GNU tar has no similar option.)

     o   GNU tar says output old format.
	 UNIX98 tar says don't chown files after extracting
	   (GNU tar uses "--no-same-owner" for this).

  Many people rely on GNU tar's "l" and "o" so we can't abruptly change
  GNU tar to be compatible with UNIX98 tar.

  However, "o" is relatively easy: we can extend GNU tar so that "o" is
  a synonym for --no-same-owner when extracting, keeping "o"'s current
  semantics when creating.  This is a bit of a hack, but it shouldn't
  break things.

  "l" will be harder, since it's a clear incompatibility.  Perhaps we
  could announce a phase-in period where "l" changes in semantics.
  However, the first step should be to support the UNIX98 semantics,
  using a long option, without changing the meaning of "l" for now.  That
  will give people a migration strategy.

* Interoperate better with Joerg Schilling's star implementation.

* Add an option to remove files that compare successfully.

  From: Roesinger Eric <ROESINGE@tce.com>
  Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2001 18:43:43 -0500

  It would be useful to be able to use '--remove-files' with '--diff',
  to remove all files that compare successfully, when verifying a backup.

* Copyright notice

  Copyright (C) 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

  This file is part of GNU tar.

  GNU tar is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
  any later version.

  GNU tar is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.

  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
  along with tar; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to
  the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
  Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.