Path: gmdzi!unido!mcsun!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rice!sun-spots-request
From: da...@imax.com (Dave Martindale)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Partitions, GNU tar, and dump
Keywords: Software
Message-ID: <10109@brazos.Rice.edu>
Date: 19 Jul 90 15:50:37 GMT
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Posted: Thu Jul 19 16:50:37 1990
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 273, message 11
Originator: sp...@titan.rice.edu

In a previous message, I stated that dump was still necessary because GNU
tar could not do incremental dumps.  As several people have pointed out,
GNU tar *does* do incremental dumps.  I must plead guilty to temporary
insanity.  I had confused the public domain tar written by John Gilmore
<g...@toad.com> (which I use), with the genuine GNU tar.

Sorry about misleading people.

	Dave Martindale

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From: gl...@csri.toronto.edu (Glenn Mackintosh)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Re: Partitions, GNU tar, and dump
Keywords: Software
Message-ID: < 10163@brazos.Rice.edu>
Date: 23 Jul 90 19:57:46 GMT
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Posted: Mon Jul 23 20:57:46 1990
X-Refs:  Original: v9n273
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 278, message 1
Originator: sp...@titan.rice.edu

da...@imax.com (Dave Martindale) writes:

>In a previous message, I stated that dump was still necessary because GNU
>tar could not do incremental dumps.  As several people have pointed out,
>GNU tar *does* do incremental dumps.  I must plead guilty to temporary
>insanity.  I had confused the public domain tar written by John Gilmore
>< g...@toad.com> (which I use), with the genuine GNU tar.

However, tar does have the problem that it fills in holes in files. This
means that databses that fit on your disk but contain chunks that don't
actually have blocks assigned to them suddenly get much bigger, perhaps
even too big for your disk if the holes are very big, if you try and
recover it from a tar'ed tape.

                    Glenn Mackintosh
                    Univ. of Toronto

CSNET/ARPA:   glenn@eecg.{toronto.edu,utoronto.ca}
CDNNET:       glenn@eecg.toronto.cdn
BITNET:       glenn@eecg.utoronto.bitnet (may not work from all sites)
UUCP:         uunet!utai!eecg!glenn

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From: alpe...@volcano.Berkeley.EDU (Al Petrofsky)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun
Subject: Re: Partitions, GNU tar, and dump
Keywords: Software
Message-ID: < 1990Aug9.021608.5916@rice.edu>
Date: 6 Aug 90 22:17:23 GMT
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Posted: Mon Aug  6 23:17:23 1990
Originator: sp...@titan.rice.edu
X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 9, Issue 289, message 20

In article < 10...@brazos.Rice.edu> gl...@csri.toronto.edu (Glenn Mackintosh) 
writes:
   However, tar does have the problem that it fills in holes in files. This
   means that databses that fit on your disk but contain chunks that don't
   actually have blocks assigned to them suddenly get much bigger, perhaps
   even too big for your disk if the holes are very big, if you try and
   recover it from a tar'ed tape.

The June 1990 GNUS Bulletin says GNU tar includes "the ability to archive
sparse files."  I haven't tried it, but it sounds like they've got all the
bases covered.

Al Petrofsky
alpe...@ocf.berkeley.edu