Re: Symlink, chrdev, blkdev translators

[Marcus Brinkmann]

On Mon, Aug 19, 2002 at 09:12:44PM +0200, Patrick Strasser wrote:
> What about translating compressed/tar'ed files this way?

We were talking about special built in filesystem features.  There is no
filesystem feature in ext2fs that says: file is a compressed tar file.  So
there is nothing to short cut here.

You are just asking for a normal translator thingie, nothing unusual, but of
course still a good idea. ;)  Both gz, bz, and also tar have the problem
that they only work on streams, and don't provide random access, so you have
both stprage and performance problems that are not easy to solve.

But that doesn't mean we should have such a feature.  I think it is even in
the task list.
 
> works, and I like the functionality. What about unpacking 
> {t{ar{,.gz,.bz2},gz},gz,bz2} files when accessed as directories, but as 
> usual when accessed as files?

Sure, that's the idea.

> These files would be listed as files.

I would probably list them as directories, or provide an option to be able t
do both.

> This 
> would not break compatibility too much. I don't know if programs exist 
> that would come into conflict with themselves with such constructs.

We will only find out by trying.  It's way to subtle to spot it just by
thinking about how programs work or reading all code.  Most programs will
not be confused by this.
 
> I'll go read some code. Does anyone know a working GOBAL or LXR for a 
> reasonably up to date CVS-snapshot?

If you have updated your binary system to the most recent version following
the upgrade procedure, the current CVS HEAD is exactly what you want.  The
unstable phase is over.

Thanks,
Marcus

-- 
`Rhubarb is no Egyptian god.' GNU      http://www.gnu.org    marcus@gnu.org
Marcus Brinkmann              The Hurd http://www.gnu.org/software/hurd/
Marcus.Brinkmann@ruhr-uni-bochum.de
http://www.marcus-brinkmann.de/