Re: HEADS UP: tar -l is now (intentionally) broken.

Tim Kientzle wrote:
> Since POSIX and GNU violently disagree about the
> meaning of "tar -l", and there seem to be strong
> adherents to both interpretations, I'm preparing to
> commit a patch that breaks "tar -l" for everyone:
> 
> $ tar -cl foo
>   Error: -l has different behaviors in different tars.
>     For the GNU behavior, use --one-file-system instead.
>     For the POSIX behavior, use --check-links instead.

Apologies if this is close to a bike-shed, but how about making the 
above message a transitional message, and changing it to:

$ tar -cl foo
   Error: -l has different behaviors in different tars.
     For the GNU behavior, use --one-file-system instead.
     For the POSIX behavior, use --check-links instead.
     In future releases, POSIX behavior will be assumed, so
     please adjust scripts and mentality as needed before then.

As someone said, adhering to standards is a Good Thing (tm), and I think 
it's a worthwile aim. Making this error (and yes, I do agree that it 
should be an error, not a warning) transitional, we pave the way for 
becoming standards compliant, while still not destroying file systems 
nilly-willy.

I won't claim to know what a reasonable timeframe would be, but perhaps 
have this message in 5.3, and then change the behaviour for 5.4 or 5.5?

Cheers,
/Johny
-- 
Johny Mattsson - Making IT work  ,-.   ,-.   ,-.  There is no truth.
http://www.earthmagic.org     _.'  `-'   `-'  There is only perception.