Re: Proposal for cp -a

[Matt Thomas <matt%3am-software.com@localhost>]

On Dec 20, 2010, at 10:45 PM, Thor Lancelot Simon wrote:

> On Tue, Dec 21, 2010 at 08:01:37AM +0200, Aleksey Cheusov wrote:
>>> I propose to add option -a to cp(1).
>>> FreeBSD (since about 7.1), Linux and some other platforms have it,
>>> and I think it is very useful.
>> 
>> As Hubert noted me personally I need to explain what the purpose is.
>> Idea is clear, -a is equivalent to -RpP. With -a option we can easily
>> create an <A>rchive copy of src_dir directory by running the following
>> command.
> 
> As you note, -P is the default.
> 
> Is there any reason to add this duplicative option other than "Linux did
> it, and some FreeBSD developer was persuaded to go along"?

Especially when pax -rw might even better solution :)