[rdiff-backup-users] Re: getting oriented questions

[Chinook]

Ben Escoto wrote:

> > > > > > Chinook <address@hidden>
> > > > > > wrote the following on Sat, 17 Sep 2005 23:38:49 -0400
> > > > > >            
>
>  
>
> > I would like to checkout rdiff-backup usage on Mac OS X (10.4.2)
> >
> > 1)  Are there any other such users out there?
> >    
>
> Well not me but I think there are some :)
>
>  
>
> > 2)  I want to use the full functionality but there are two limitations, 
> > namely ACLs and EAs.  The various port packages have "librsync" included 
> > as a dependency but do not include pylibacl and pyxattr.
> >
> >    2a)  EA support: supposedly with "pyxattr" recognized, but in Mac OS
> >    X the proper module is "xattr" which I have in my pythonmac 2.4.1
> >    installation (/usr/local/) and in the DarwinPorts environment
> >    (/opt/local/).  Other than my PATH variable, how do I get
> >    rdiff-backup to recognize "xattr?" 
> >
> >    2b) ACL support: supposedly with "pylibacl" recognized, but I can't
> >    find any such thing for Darwin.  The "standard" download setup.py
> >    checks for Linux and Free-BSD only and quits.  Having looked (with
> >    my limited understanding) at the Carbon "FPGetACL" which pylibacl
> >    would, I believe, have to get down to, I'm not adventurous enough to
> >    just add Darwin to the setup.py.  Is there any merit in pursuing
> >    this aspect? 
> >    
>
> For EAs, rdiff-backup looks for the "xattr" module, as provided by the
> pyxattr package.  For ACL support, rdiff-backup looks for the
> "posix1e" package, as provided by the pylibacl package.  There are
> links to these packages on the homepage.
>
> I have no idea whether Mac OS X supports ACLs or user EAs at all, and
> if it does, whether the pyxattr and pylibacl packages are Mac OS X
> compatible.  If you have questions specifically about these modules
> though, you may want to ask the modules' author or mailing list.
>
>
>  
>
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>
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Thanks for the reply Ben,

As per 2a above, it's a matter of the rdiff -backup "import" statement 
that is in question - guess I'll have to dig through the source to check 
it out.

As for 2b above, your reply did prompt me to look back at the pylibacl 
page again and this time I noticed what may be the closest thing to an 
answer I'll get  :-)   

It says (circa 2002):
  "If any other platform implements the POSIX.1e draft, pylibacl can be 
used."  
And the Darwin (OS X) man pages say:
 "This implementation of the POSIX.1e library differs from the standard in
    a number of non-portable ways in order to support the MacOS/Darwin ACL
    semantic.  Where possible, these differences are implemented using the
    mechanisms provided in the standard for such extensions.  Where 
routines
    are non-standard, they are suffixed with _np to indicate that they are
    not portable."

In trying all the potential info sources I could, I have so far found 
one user of rdiff-backup on the pythonmac list and that person is still 
running Panther (10.3.x).  EAs were implemented in Darwin with Tiger 
(10.4.x).

You saw the post so maybe some other Mac users will eventually also 
:-)   All a bit of a shame in my mind - with all the playing around with 
rsync I've done, rdiff-backup seems a very practical and efficient 
approach. 

Thanks again for the reply,
Lee C