In article <200606021641.k52GfvcA010954@quill.porcupine.montreal.qc.ca> you wrote:
> Anyway, can someone explain to me (or point me at information about)
> these "archive states", and what this means for a file in NetBSD?

I guess that this 'archive state' is related to file flags on msdos-fs 
only, according to [1], the flag is used to allow "Microsoft backup and 
other backup programs to know which files to backup". 

IIRC the intended mode of operation was that a backup program sets the 
flag, and any use (modification) of the file clears it, and on the next 
backup run, the software knows to backup only files that have the flag 
cleared. 

I doubt this has any meaning other than for displaying in NetBSD...
(A grep through the sources confirms this; it's used in msdosfs, and 
strmode(3) for displaying)


 - Hubert

[1] http://www.computerhope.com/attribhl.htm