> From: Raymond Moyers <rmoyers_at_nop.org>
> To: classiccmp_at_classiccmp.org
> Subject: Re: Tape dumping programs for Unix/Linux...
> Date: Thu, 2 May 2002 16:37:30 -0500
> In-Reply-To: <200205021718.g42HI9X7086853_at_daemonweed.reanimators.org>
>
> On Thursday 02 May 2002 12:18, you wrote:
>
> > > Whats wrong with cat ?
> >
> > What's wrong with cat (and dd, and arguably the whole Un*x concept of
> > files-as-bytestreams for that matter) is that it loses information. A
> > magnetic tape is not an ordered stream of bytes, it is an ordered
> > stream of files of records, and each record has a length.
>
> Here you are talking about a data tape with fields that make up records
> where the records are all the same size and the fields being varaible
> length inside the record but repeating in all the other records.
>
> But a tape like this, from the days when tapes was used as random
> access devices is not the format of a system archive tape is it ?
>
> > So you are forced to result to multiple disk files to maintain the file
> > structure.
> > (which adds to your hassle because now you need to manage collections
> > of files instead of a single tape),
>
> Like with a tarball ?
>
> > and as you are copying the files to bytestreams you lose the record
> > length information.
>
> Unless you are going to resurrect some old general ledger program
> why is this important ?
For the same reason it is important to resurrect old computer hardware.
I thought that would be obvious to people who read this mailing list.
carl
--
carl lowenstein marine physical lab u.c. san diego
clowenstein_at_ucsd.edu
Received on Fri May 03 2002 - 02:42:46 BST