tar .vs. cpio

[Doug Gwyn <gwyn>]

I changed from tar to cpio for several reasons:
	- tar would overflow its link table (running on a PDP-11)
	  frequently and produce random behavior
	- cpio by default will not overwrite files during extraction
	  if the archive copy is older than the current one
	- cpio will match files using general patterns whereas tar
	  has no such feature
	- cpio can create a copy of a hierarchy using links rather
	  than copies of the files
I don't understand two of your comments, Bill.  "cpio -c" makes the
headers ASCII instead of binary; I don't know what "character at a
time I/O" is supposed to mean but this isn't it.  Also, tar is
supplied with UNIX System V as it comes from AT&T.

I move archives and especially partially-modified archives around
a lot and find cpio to be just what I need for this task.  I think
the choice between the two depends on:
	- whether one is exporting to a non-cpio site
	- whether the above differences are important
	- personal preference