> Whatever the case, a great many tar(1) programs out there do fine with
> empty input, and therefore we probably ought to, as well.

Equally, there are tar programs that don't (e.g. HP-UX) so if the tree
is to cross build without pax-as-tar becoming a host program, don't we
want to stop this attempt to install files from a non-existent
directory?

Giles