> From: Mocha <netbsd_alpha@yahoo.com>
>
> system: dec alpha pws 500au / 1gig RAM / 20 gig SCSI HD
> os: netbsd 1.4.2 / default install kernel
> action: untar-ing source sets
>
> 1. tar -xzvf gnusrc.tgz -C / (this went fine)
> 2. tar -xzvf pkgsrc.tgz -C / (got error below)
>
> here is a strange error i got:
> ---cut---
> /: create/symlink failed, no inodes free
> tar: Could not create directory pkgsrc/www/navigator3 : No such file or 
> director
> y
> pkgsrc/www/navigator3/CVS/
>
> /: create/symlink failed, no inodes free
> tar: Could not create directory pkgsrc/www/navigator3/CVS : No such file or 
> dire
> ctory
> pkgsrc/www/navigator3/CVS/Root
>
> /: create/symlink failed, no inodes free
> ---cut---
>
> how come the system's default settings don't have enough inodes to handle a 
> simple operation like that? or is something else i should be looking into?

Looks like you tried to fit source trees into the root FS .. they usually
go into /usr/... or on some FS that has enough room. It was just a tossup
whether you ran out of inodes first or space first.

Maintaining a small root FS is usually a good practice, although it is in
less favor than it used to be. The theory is, it's easier to backup as an
image for emergency recovery, it's accessed less and so is less likely to
be inconsistent in a crash, filling up root or /usr won't stop ops on /usr
or root, and if something does go wrong it's vastly easier to restore /usr
with a working root, or to regenerate root from the distribution and drop
in the local config automatically saved for you in /var/backups. There are
probably other reasons too...

	ross