Looking to find the practical reasons the command tar -c /filea > /fileb gives the following output: tar:Removing_leading / from member names.
I have researched it quite a bit but only come across very vague reasons such as protects against some sort of attack etc. The majority just give explanations on a workaround should you want it.
I do not want a workaround. I am simply curious as to the actual practical reasons for it happening. Any help would be appreciated.
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Answer
This helps avoid mistakes which could cause important files to be overwritten. Files are normally extracted relative to the current working directory of the tar command.
Just Example:
If you archive /etc/httpd this directory it removes leading /. Because. If it exists after extract current /etc/httpd will overwrite with archive /etc/httpd.
After removing the leading ‘/’ it extract on your working directory. If you extract on /var/tmp directory it will kept as /var/tmp/etc/httpd