-Hey! Emacs! Yo! This is -*- Text -*- !!!
-
-This is GNU tar 1.11.2. Please send bug reports, etc., to
-bug-gnu-utils@prep.ai.mit.edu. This is a beta-test release. Please
-try it out. There is no manual; the release of version 1.12 will
-contain a manual.
-
-GNU tar is based heavily on John Gilmore's public domain tar, but with
-added features. The manual is currently being written.
-
-This distribution also includes rmt, the remote tape server (which
-normally must reside in /etc). The mt tape drive control program is
-in the GNU cpio distribution.
-
-See the file INSTALL for compilation and installation instructions for Unix.
-See the file NEWS for information on all that is new in this version
-of tar.
-
-makefile.pc is a makefile for Turbo C 2.0 on MS-DOS.
-
-Various people have been having problems using floppies on a NeXT. In
-order to have them work right, you need to kill the automounting
-program which tries to mount floppies as soon as they are added.
-
-If you want to do incremental dumps, use the distributed backup
-scripts. They are what we use at the FSF to do all our backups. Most
-importantly, do not use --incremental (-G) or --after-date (-N) or
---newer-mtime to do incremental dumps. The only option that works
-correctly for this purpose is --listed-incremental. (When extracting
-incremental dumps, use --incremental (-G).)
-
-If your system needs to link with -lPW to get alloca, but has
-rename in the C library (so HAVE_RENAME is defined), -lPW might
-give you an incorrect version of rename. On HP-UX this manifests
-itself as an undefined data symbol called "Error" when linking cp, ln,
-and mv. If this happens, use `ar x' to extract alloca.o from libPW.a
-and `ar rc' to put it in a library liballoca.a, and put that in LIBS
-instead of -lPW. This problem does not occur when using gcc, which
-has alloca built in.
+Here is GNU `tar' 1.12. Please glance through *all* sections of this
+`README' file before starting configuration. Also make sure you read files
+`ABOUT-NLS' and `INSTALL' if you are not familiar with them already.
+If you got the `tar' distribution in `shar' format, timestamps ought to be
+properly restored, do not ignore such complaints at `unshar' time.
+
+GNU `tar' saves many files together into a single tape or disk
+archive, and can restore individual files from the archive. It includes
+multivolume support, the ability to archive sparse files, automatic archive
+compression/decompression, remote archives and special features that allow
+`tar' to be used for incremental and full backups. This distribution
+also includes `rmt', the remote tape server. The `mt' tape drive control
+program is in the GNU `cpio' distribution.
+
+GNU `tar' is derived from John Gilmore's public domain `tar'.
+
+See file `ABOUT-NLS' for how to customize this program to your language.
+See file `BACKLOG' for a summary of pending mail and articles.
+See file `COPYING' for copying conditions.
+See file `INSTALL' for compilation and installation instructions.
+See file `PORTS' for various ports of GNU tar to non-Unix systems.
+See file `NEWS' for a list of major changes in the current release.
+See file `THANKS' for a list of contributors.
+
+Besides those configure options documented in files `INSTALL' and
+`ABOUT-NLS', a few extra options may be accepted after `./configure':
+
+* `--with-included-malloc' or `--without-included-malloc' may override
+the automatic choice made by `configure' about using included GNU malloc.
+
+* `--with-dmalloc' is a debugging option for looking at memory management
+problems, it prerequires Gray Watson's package, which is available as
+`ftp://ftp.letters.com/src/dmalloc/dmalloc.tar.gz'.
+
+The default archive device is now `stdin' on read and `stdout' on write.
+The installer can still override this by presetting `DEFAULT_ARCHIVE'
+in the environment before configuring (the behavior of `-[0-7]' or
+`-[0-7]lmh' options in `tar' are then derived automatically). Similarly,
+`DEFAULT_BLOCKING' can be preset to something else than 20.
+
+For comprehensive modifications to GNU tar, you might need tools beyond
+those used in simple installations. Fully install GNU m4 1.4 first,
+and only then, Autoconf 2.12 with officious patches held in `AC-PATCHES'.
+Install Perl, then Automake 1.1n with officious patches in `AM-PATCHES'.
+You might need Bison 1.25 with officious patches in `BI-PATCHES' (but yacc
+and byacc may be OK for you), and GNU tar itself. All are available on
+GNU archive sites, like in ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/, but Automake
+is still ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/tromey/automake-1.1n.tar.gz.
+
+Send bug reports to `tar-bugs@gnu.ai.mit.edu'. (Beware, old-timers: it is
+`@gnu', not `@prep'; and not `bug-gnu-utils' anymore.) A bug report is
+an adequate description of the problem: your input, what you expected,
+what you got, and why this is wrong. Diffs are welcome, but they only
+describe a solution, from which the problem might be uneasy to infer.
+If needed, submit actual data files with your report. Small data files
+are preferred. Big files may sometimes be necessary, but do not send them
+to the report address; rather take special arrangement with the maintainer.
+
+Your feedback will help us to make a better and more portable package.
+Consider documentation errors as bugs, and report them as such. If you
+develop anything pertaining to `tar' or have suggestions, let us know
+and share your findings by writing at `tar-forum@iro.umontreal.ca'.
+
+.--------------------.
+| Installation hints |
+`--------------------'
+
+Here are a few hints which might help installing `tar' on some systems.
+
+* Static linking.
+
+Some platform will, by default, prepare a smaller `tar' executable
+which depends on shared libraries. Since GNU `tar' may be used for
+system-level backups and disaster recovery, installers might prefer to
+force static linking, making a bigger `tar' executable maybe, but able to
+work standalone, in situations where shared libraries are not available.
+The way to achieve static linking varies between systems. Set LDFLAGS
+to a value from the table below, before configuration (see `INSTALL').
+
+ Platform Compiler LDFLAGS
+
+ (any) Gnu C -static
+ AIX (vendor) "-bnso -bI:/lib/syscalls.exp"
+ HPUX (vendor) -Wl,-a,archive
+ IRIX (vendor) -non_shared
+ OSF (vendor) -non_shared
+ SCO 3.2v5 (vendor) -dn
+ Solaris (vendor) -Bstatic
+ SunOS (vendor) -Bstatic
+
+* Failed `incremen.sh'.
+
+In an NFS environment, lack of synchronisation between machine clocks
+might create difficulties to any tool comparing dates and file timestamps,
+like `tar' in incremental dumps. This has been a recurrent problem in
+GNU Makefiles for the last few years. We would like a general solution.
+
+* BSD compatibility matters.
+
+Set LIBS to `-lbsd' before configuration (see `INSTALL') if the linker
+complains about undefined `valloc' (AIX) or `bsd_ioctl' (Slackware).
+Also set CPPFLAGS to `-I/usr/include/bsd/sys' before configuration to
+solve dirent problems (NeXT), or to `-I/usr/include/bsd' if <sgtty.h>
+is not found (Slackware).
+
+* `union wait' problems.
+
+Configuration of `union wait' does not always take the best decision.
+If you have this problem, edit file `config.cache' after configuration,
+find the line about `tar_cv_header_union_wait', change `yes' by `no'
+or vice-versa, execute `./config.status', then launch `make'.
+
+* `%lld' unsupported in `printf'.
+
+GNU C has `long long', but the underneath C library might not support
+the `%lld' format. If you have this problem, edit file `config.cache'
+after configuration, find the line about `ac_cv_sizeof_long_long, change
+`8' by `0', execute `./config.status', then launch `make'.
+
+* FreeBSD users -- `configure' fails.
+
+It has been reported that `configure' does not run on FreeBSD 2.1.7,
+because of a buggy `sh'. It works using `bash', however.
+
+* ISC users -- `S_*' symbols undefined.
+
+On ISC 4.1mu, POSIX environment, set CFLAGS to `-posix' and CPPFLAGS to
+`-D_SYSV3' before configuration (see `INSTALL'). This will trigger the
+definition of a few `S_' prefixed symbols from <sys/stat.h>.
+
+* Ultrix users -- broken `make'.
+
+It seems that Ultrix make does not correctly handle shell commands
+having logical connectives in them. Use `s5make' if you have it, try
+`PROG_ENV=SYSTEM_FIVE make' (works on Ultrix 4.4), or install GNU Make.
+
+.------------------.
+| Special topics. |
+`------------------'
+
+Here are a few special matters about GNU `tar', not related to build
+matters. See previous section for such.
+
+* File attributes.
+
+About *security*, it is probable that future releases of `tar' will have
+some behaviour changed. There are many pending suggestions to choose from.
+Today, extracting an archive not being `root', `tar' will restore suid/sgid
+bits on files but owned by the extracting user. `root' automatically gets
+a lot of special priviledges, `-p' might later become required to get them.
+
+GNU `tar' does not properly restore symlink attributes. Various systems
+implement flavours of symbolic links showing different behaviour and
+properties. We did not successfully sorted all these out yet. Currently,
+the `lchown' call will be used if available, but that's all.
+
+* POSIX compliance.
+
+GNU `tar' implements an early draft of the POSIX 1003.1 `ustar' standard
+which is different from the final standard. This will be progressively
+corrected over the incoming few years. Don't be mislead by the mere
+existence of the --posix option. Later releases will become able to
+read truly POSIX archives, and also to produce them under option. (Also,
+if you look at the internals, don't take the GNU extensions you see for
+granted, as they are planned to change.) GNU tar 2.0 will produce POSIX
+archives by default, but there is a long way before we get there.
+
+* What's next?
+
+The emphasis from 1.11.2 to 1.12 has been on solving the main portability,
+execution or usability bugs. This was accompanied all over with an
+internal cleanup in the sources, and the reassembly of a `tar' manual.
+
+The `BACKLOG' file shows an approximative priorisation of the many pending
+problems and suggestions. Besides pending problems and all other matters
+listed above, the cleanup is planned to continue and extend to the general
+organisation of the code, preparing a long time in advance for a possible
+merge of the `cpio' and `tar' distributions, into some common `paxutils'.
+We also want to address some long-awaited performance issues (for example:
+double buffering) or enhancements (for example: per-file compression).
projects / chaz / tar / commitdiff
