Re: Defect in XCU pax

[Paul Eggert <yyyyyy@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Fri, 4 Jul 2003 12:29:53 +0100
> From: Geoff Clare <yyy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Action:
> 
> Add to the end of the "APPLICATION USAGE" section:...
> 
> if a file is archived using two pathnames that resolve to the same
> file via symbolic links ... then in the archive the second pathname
> will be represented as a link to the first pathname, and they will
> be extracted as linked files."

Perhaps I'm missing some context here, but common existing practice
does not implement this behavior.  I just checked Solaris 9 'pax', for
example, and it archives two copies of the file in this case.  So this
action will require changes to implementations.

If a file has only one hard link, it's common practice to not bother
to keep track of it in main memory after archiving it, to save main
memory.  Is the intent to change the standard to prohibit this
optimization?