Re: When is a tar file not a tarfile?

[Adam Williams <awilliam@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>One other idea is "sparce files", but I have no idea if they are
>supported by Linux and/or ext2.  I've only heard reference to them
>in commercial Unix systems.  (my money is on the block sizes)

Yes, Linux/ext2 supports sparse files,  I saw that in some documentation 
once.  But I've never in my UNIX Admin life met a sparse file or a 
developer who could tell me why you'd create one.  I put my money on the 
block sizes, or that for some very strange reason symbolic or hard links 
weren't resolved and turned into copies of the files.