Sparse Files ? (used often?)

[Scott Hammond]

In article <30481 at bu-cs.BU.EDU> madd at bu-it.bu.edu (Jim Frost) writes:
>In article <19342 at adm.BRL.MIL> mark at ria-emh2.army.mil (Mark D. McKamey IM SA) writes:
>|     What is the definition of a "Sparse file" in the UNIX world?
>
>[discussion on how it works]

I'm interested in knowing how much UNIX _application_ software (besides
news, mailers, or pathalias) uses sparse files.  In particular, given an
underlying file system implementation which doesn't permit holes, are
there many of situations where a lot of space is going to be wasted by
traditional attempts at creating sparse files? 
--
Scott Hammond,  R & D Associates, Marina del Rey, CA  (213) 822-1715
: {ksuvax1,zardoz,randvax}!rdahp!scott
:  scott at harris.cis.ksu.edu