Hello, Apologies for not being able to reply earlier. I have missed a long discussion, so allow me to put in my 2 cents.
Indeed, back in 2004 it was me who updated the docs with the suggestion that this format "will be the default format for future versions of GNU tar". I must admit, it was easier written than done, for the compatibility reasons described by Paul. However, I still think that this switch should be done. Regarding reproducible build concerns, expressed by Paul: I don't believe it is an issue. Reproducible tarballs in PAX format are easily made with the following option: --pax-option=exthdr.name=%d/PaxHeaders/%f,atime:=0,ctime:=0 (btw, it is mentioned in the tar docs as well). That all being said, I think that we should begin with the PATCH 1/2. Best regards, Sergey
