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Archived Post

This post is archived from my Posterous blog, which shut down in 2012. Some posts have been edited slightly to fix typographical errors, correctly represent the gender of some individuals, and remove unnecessarily-gendered language. You can view the full archive here.

Understanding the tar Command Line

Archive Post
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You almost can’t install a piece of open source software without invoking the tar command. Inevitably, the installation instructions include a command line like the one below. Use this handy guide to fully understand what each part of this powerful command really means.

An image showing the line "tar -zxvf myfile.tar.gz". The hyphe is labeled "I remain devoted to standards", the z is labeled "I haven't read the man page in 11 years", the v is labeled "I want to feel like that guy in The Matrix", the f is labeled "This tool is older than I am", and the .tar.gz is labeled "It comforts me to pretend these matter".

The tar command, demystified.