mcmahill@mtl.mit.edu wrote:
> 
> I agree that I too have always used (with great success)
>  `tar --unlink -xvpf`, however I see:

Of course you have, that's how NetBSD has unpacked its install files at
least since 1.2 (when I started using it) and more than likely earlier. 
Any of you that are still running 1.2, look in / at the dot files you
have there.  One of those files, the name of which escapes me at the
moment, contains the funtion 'extract' which you'll see if defined
roughly as:

$GZIP -dc $1 | ( cd / ; $TAR --unlink -x${VERBOSE}pf - )

Which ends up looking soemthing like this in execution, assuming you
requested a verbose install:

gzip -dc base.tgz | ( cd / ; tar --unlink -xvpf - )

Thinking back, it may have used gunzip and not gzip -d, at any rate, you
can mix them fine, it's been done, it's being done, and it will continue
to be done.

--
Christofer C. Bell                      Information Systems Lead
Union Computing Services                email: cbell@ukans.edu
University of Kansas                    phone: 785-864-4893