Re: prefer local files to network connections

[Sergey Poznyakoff]

Hi Karl!

> I suggest that tar check if a file exists before trying to make a
> network connection. This would eliminate the need for --force-local in
> (I expect) most cases. As in:

Nice idea.  I'll implement it.

> Also, since the whole idea of tar making network connections is highly
> non-traditional, I also suggest making an environment variable that
> turns off the network stuff completely.  TAR_NO_NETWORK or some
> such.

There's no need for that, you can just do:

  export TAR_OPTIONS=--force-local

That will disable network connections.  And it doesn't disturb short or
traditional options, either.

Regards,
Sergey