Editing 1168: tar
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{{w|Tar (computing)|tar}} ("tape archive") is a {{w|Unix|Unix}} application that creates (and extracts) archives in the ".tar" format. It is typically used through the text-based terminal, using cryptic single-letter arguments such as "<code>tar -cvf archive.tar *</code>". Many Unix executables are distributed via tar archives; as a result tar files would be encountered by Unix users as commonly as Windows users encounter EXE files. Depending on the flavor of Unix, the order of the flags, or the exclusion of the hyphen, could render the command incorrect, which would either throw up an error or worse, cause one to accidentally overwrite or delete important files. | {{w|Tar (computing)|tar}} ("tape archive") is a {{w|Unix|Unix}} application that creates (and extracts) archives in the ".tar" format. It is typically used through the text-based terminal, using cryptic single-letter arguments such as "<code>tar -cvf archive.tar *</code>". Many Unix executables are distributed via tar archives; as a result tar files would be encountered by Unix users as commonly as Windows users encounter EXE files. Depending on the flavor of Unix, the order of the flags, or the exclusion of the hyphen, could render the command incorrect, which would either throw up an error or worse, cause one to accidentally overwrite or delete important files. | ||
| β | The comic alludes to the fact that | + | The comic alludes to the fact that despite it is incredibly hard to remember what the letters stand for without looking them up, such as with Google. The joke here is that a "tar" command with perfect syntax on the first try without outside help is such a daunting task that even [[Rob]] can't overcome it with confidence, and apologizes for not being able to prevent their imminent death. |
The title text points out that while much of computing changes very quickly, the tar program, which is very old (originating ca. 1975), is still around and heavily used. [[Randall]] points out the paradox that after 15 years he is still unable to write out a proper tar command from memory, yet at the same time he feels that he shouldn't ''have'' to and a newer, better tool really should have come along already. | The title text points out that while much of computing changes very quickly, the tar program, which is very old (originating ca. 1975), is still around and heavily used. [[Randall]] points out the paradox that after 15 years he is still unable to write out a proper tar command from memory, yet at the same time he feels that he shouldn't ''have'' to and a newer, better tool really should have come along already. | ||
