Re: [Bug-tar] Unpacking a tar with a "./" entry changes dir timestamp and maybe ownership too

[Dustin J. Mitchell]

On Mon, Aug 16, 2010 at 9:25 AM, Gene Heskett <address@hidden> wrote:
> IMO it should not be capable of changing the . directories properties.
> Update time maybe, but no rights or ownership changes should be allowed.
> Ever.  If the resultant isn't suitable, let the user become root and fix it.
> This world has enough surprises without this sort of thing.

Gene, this is not new behavior!  Changing behavior like this in tar
leads to unexpected bugs and workarounds in other software, like
Amanda.

People running tar should be careful.  Your same reasoning would apply
to mandating the -i (confirm) options for 'mv' and 'rm'!

If you're root, be careful.  If you're unpacking a tarball of
unfamiliar origin, first, don't do it as root, and barring that, use
-tf first to see what's inside.  If it contains '.', then use the
approach Sergey has outlined.

Dustin

-- 
Open Source Storage Engineer
http://www.zmanda.com