docs/97059: pax(1): -b option description could be flawed

[Coleman Kane]

>Number:         97059
>Category:       docs
>Synopsis:       pax(1): -b option description could be flawed
>Confidential:   no
>Severity:       non-critical
>Priority:       medium
>Responsible:    freebsd-doc
>State:          open
>Quarter:        
>Keywords:       
>Date-Required:
>Class:          doc-bug
>Submitter-Id:   current-users
>Arrival-Date:   Tue May 09 22:40:11 GMT 2006
>Closed-Date:
>Last-Modified:
>Originator:     Coleman Kane
>Release:        FreeBSD 6.1-RC i386
>Organization:
FreeBSD
>Environment:
System: FreeBSD ramen.coleyandcheryl 6.1-RC FreeBSD 6.1-RC #3: Tue Apr 18 04:22:25 UTC 2006 root at ramen.coleyandcheryl:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/RAMEN i386


>Description:
	The pax(1) manpage states the following for the -b flag:
     -b blocksize
           When writing an archive, block the output at a positive decimal
           integer number of bytes per write to the archive file.  The
           blocksize must be a multiple of 512 bytes with a maximum of 64512
           bytes.  Archives larger than 32256 bytes violate the POSIX standard
           and will not be portable to all systems.  A blocksize can end with
           k or b to specify multiplication by 1024 (1K) or 512, respectively.
           A pair of blocksizes can be separated by x to indicate a product.
           A specific archive device may impose additional restrictions on the
           size of blocking it will support.  When blocking is not specified,
           the default blocksize is dependent on the specific archive format
           being used (see the -x option).

        Specifically, the statement:
          Archives larger than 32256 bytes violate the POSIX standard
        
        This could be worded better as:
          Archive block sizes larger than 32256 bytes violate the POSIX
          standard

        This sounds more like what the author might have meant. 

        However, searching around on the internet has yielded 32256 as being
        the enforced maximum by POSIX, while 10240 is described as the 
        "compatibility maximum".
>How-To-Repeat:
	man pax
>Fix:
        Rewrite: 
          "Archives larger than 32256 bytes violate the POSIX standard"
             to say:
    "Archive block sizes larger than 32256 bytes violate the POSIX standard"
>Release-Note:
>Audit-Trail:
>Unformatted: