Wait, does this mean 'tar -cf host:file ...' will overwrite the local file 'host:file' only if that file already exists? That sounds confusing.
I was only thinking about reading (tf, xf). I agree it would be weird on creation. suggesting to me that I should put 'export TAR_OPTIONS=--force-local' into my .profile, much as I dislike having environment variables Exactly my feelings (x2) as well. One possible minor improvement would be to say that file names starting with "/" or with "./" are never remote, I believe that's already the case (thankfully). $ touch foo:bar $ tar xf ./foo:bar tar: This does not look like a tar archive ... As for the --remote option idea ... certainly I'm all for making force-local the default. As soon as possible :). I wonder how many people actually use the hostname:path feature. Besides, I gather from the code, the Amanda project. (Would be interesting to see if their code actually relies on it.) --best, karl.