On 10/05/2016 07:41 AM, Carlos E. R. wrote:
The problem you apparently don't understand is that a single error and the whole targz archive is lost. I'm not analyzing anything. I'm not saying that it happens often. I'm simply saying that I do not trust tar.gz for archival and backup, unless you take additional measures.
And this is a fact that is well documented. A single byte error and the tgz is lost. You may say that it is very rare to have such an error. Accepted. But if things go wrong and you do get that single byte error, then the whole tgz is lost, big or small. It is a documented fact.
Perhaps its documented by people who don't understand (or perhaps don't use) CRC, but the whole point of CRC is not just an integrity checksum but a error correction code. Yes there are checksums that don't give detailed error information. Yes it may be that the the file is so bit that the correction information is not a lot of use. As JDD said, large files do not compress well anyway and he also said that gigabytes tars are a pain. I put these in the class of "don't go there". If you're TARing up a whole filesystem, rather than using one of the alternative backup or archiving methods we've discussed, and so get into these considerations, then I think you a fool. My base SYSTEM is about 20G. My HOME is made up out of many small file system, apart from movies and music, none larger than 5G so I can backup each onto a DVD. I did use rsync to an off site, low cost repository, but my cable provider charges the earth for the extra bandwidth. Yes I'm changing provider to one that allows 'unlimited after 2am'. Carlos, I think you're getting ridiculous in your defence of that position, ignoring that modern compress uses CRC which is correctable and is not a mere checksum, and throwing up irrelevancies that have nothing to do with this issue. All of this is quite irrelevant to you original stated objective of backing up a hard drive before a clean install. As I said, the alligator in the swamp analogy holds. When you're up to your ass in alligators while draining the swamp its difficult to remember that your purpose was to build a luxury seafront code complex with a 9-hole golf course, tennis courts and spa. -- A: Yes. > Q: Are you sure? >> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation. >>> Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org