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From: caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: ARC/ZOO/TAR
Message-ID: <617@omen.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 2-Dec-87 15:24:42 EST
Article-I.D.: omen.617
Posted: Wed Dec  2 15:24:42 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 6-Dec-87 08:49:56 EST
References: <3027@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu>
Reply-To: caf@omen.UUCP (Chuck Forsberg WA7KGX)
Distribution: na
Organization: Omen Technology Inc, Portland Oregon
Lines: 15

In article <3027@umn-cs.cs.umn.edu> amit@umn-cs.UUCP (Neta Amit) writes:
:Standards should occasionally be replaced by better standards, not
:necessarily offering downward compatability.  After PDTAR will have
:stabilized, I suggest that BBS's and national archives adhere to it.

The current PDTAR has a few shortcomings:
	1.  No support for multiple floppies
	2.  Compression not built in
	3.  MSDOS can't pipe to compress
	4.  MSDOS compress - 12 bit??

It appears PDTAR is not one standard, but several: Classic TAR, New TAR,
and multiple flavors of compressed New TAR, and ne'er the twain shall
meet, and the probability of being able to dearchive on a paritcular
machine is somewhat less than unity.  What a zoo.