Re: [Bug-tar] Re: AMTAR brokenness

[Roger Leigh]

Paul Eggert <address@hidden> writes:

> Given all the hassles that will accompany any change, perhaps we
> should give the maintainer a more gradual upgrade path.
>
> For example, we could add an automake macro AM_TAR_FORMAT.
> AM_TAR_FORMAT([v7]) would use the current behavior (flawed as it is --
> at least it's something people are familiar with).
> AM_TAR_FORMAT([ustar]) would attempt to generate ustar format, using
> the commands "tar --format=ustar", "tar" (if not GNU tar), "pax -x
> ustar", and "cpio -H ustar", in that order.  Likewise for other
> formats as we find the need to support them.  The default could be v7
> for now, but we can warn people that it is subject to change: it could
> change to ustar, then posix, for example.
>
> That way, adventurous maintainers could use AM_TAR_FORMAT([ustar])
> now, whereas more conservative types would avoid any change in
> behavior.

That sounds great.  It would be very useful to just enable ustar/posix
tar format for those packages that require it, and leave the rest as
the default to avoid portability issues unless strictly necessary.
Being able to change the default format in automake over time is a
great idea as well.


Regards,
Roger

-- 
Roger Leigh

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