Some thoughts on enhancing cpio(1)

[Allyn Fratkin]

I don't see why the "-c" option isn't the default in the first place.
What advantages are there in having a binary header over an ASCII header?

ASCII headers are portable (that's the point), no byteswapping, no int/long 
size problems, and are easier to recover when cpio barfs on a bad block.

I definitely think cpio needs to recover from errors.

-- 
 From the virtual mind of Allyn Fratkin            allyn at sdcsvax.ucsd.edu    or
                          UCSD EMU/Pascal Project  {ucbvax, decvax, ihnp4}
                          U.C. San Diego                         !sdcsvax!allyn

 "Generally you don't see that kind of behavior in a major appliance."