[Behrang Dadsetan] > As a very wild guess I would say any platform where python could compile, > GNU tar will compile as well A last message about this. :-) The ideal is to create POSIX archives. GNU `tar' is reasonably conforming when unpacking an archive, is often conforming when creating a new one, but not necessarily. When it errs, it errs _big_. Sun `tar' attempts to be POSIX conforming, and may be more POSIX conforming on the average of all aspects. However, whenever they goof, they usually try to stay compatible with their previous mistakes for the sake of their own users. The most known example is how to compute the header checksum (there are other examples and issues, I'm just taking the most known to illustrate how the history goes). When Sun recompiled Unix `tar' from sources, they missed that their machines were not signing chars the same way, but of course, they were able to read the archives they were creating. Later, `HP-UX' purposely made the same error "for being compatible with Sun". POSIX defined the checksum according to the original and documented design, making Sun and HP-UX officially wrong. On reading an archive, GNU `tar' computes two checksums, one the POSIX way, the other the Sun way, and ensures (at least) one of them matches. On creation, GNU `tar' uses the POSIX checksum. The discrepancy only shows if there is some character with the high bit set. Sun might be computing two checksum as well, nowadays. Declaring that Solaris is right, or GNU `tar' is right, is not the best way to ponder all this. The end line is they are all wrong, even GNU `tar' has its good share of horrors. A reasonable way to go is that we all attempt to follow POSIX standards, whether we like them or not, however strange they may be. In this way, there is some chance that we converge, instead of fighting like cats in the backyard. Unless you take the bet that GNU `tar' will squash them all? It will happen if Linux takes over the world! :-) -- François Pinard http://www.iro.umontreal.ca/~pinard
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