[Tfug] tar pits

[Choprboy]

On Wednesday 29 August 2007 16:52, Bexley Hall wrote:
> Greetings!
>
> --- "Jeremy C. Reed" <reed at reedmedia.net> wrote:
> > Don't cd to /. Just extract them to where you want
> > them. For example xsrc tarball will extract to
> > usr/xsrc/.
>
> Huh?  I thought the leading / was stripped off the
> files as they were being tar'd up?  (I will have to
> check... is there a way to tell tar *not* to strip
> the leading /?

Yes, by default tar strips the root directory when creating a tarball. 
The -P | --absolute-names leaves it intact. You can 
use --strip-path/--strip-components to remove levels of path when untar'ing.

Adrian