[Suns-at-Home] Backup

[der Mouse]

> The ufsdump command will back up all character special files like
> those in /dev, tar will not

Actually, this depends on the version of tar in use.  I know of at
least two tar variants (my own and the GNU one) that handle device
special files.

Perhaps the tar shipped by default with whatever OS is under discussion
here doesn't, in which case I'd say it's time to install a smarter one,
or perhaps even switch OSes.  It's not as if tar handling device files
correctly is new and untried technology.

And in any case, before settling on any backup program, I'd strongly
recommend looking into how well it actually works.  Elizabeth Zwicky
did a torture-test suite for backup programs; I'm not sure whether it's
still available, though if anyone wants I can probably chase down a
copy.

					der Mouse

			       mouse@rodents.montreal.qc.ca
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