On Tuesday 21 January 2014 13:06:40 viv...@gmail.com wrote: > On 01/21/14 11:50, Vishesh Handa wrote: > > On Tuesday 21 January 2014 02:24:01 Francesco R. wrote: > >> just always use an additional database, xattrs are not the way to go. > >> Managing xattrs require a conscious user, many programs by default don't > >> even copy xattrs. > > > > I disagree. It'll be easier to backup / restore xattr than it would be > > with > > that database. Additionally, a LOT of tools do respect extended attributes > > (cp with the -a flag), in contrast Nepomuk has never copied any metadata. > > I doubt I can implement it with the extra database as well. > > > > Plus, with extended attributes the metadata is never lost. With the > > additional database, if the file is moved to a place which is not > > tracked, then the data will be lost. > > So we agree to disagree ;) > especially on the never lost part, when moved with kio they will be > lost, when using unix command line programs, and without special > arguments they will be lost.
When copied not moved. > Most important of all they are normally hidden, more hidden than a .dot > file, an additional database, even a .dot file is much more easy to > remember. > > $ echo "Hello" > a > $ attr -s simple.attibute -V "test for xattr" ./a > Attribute "simple.attibute" set to a 14 byte value for ./a: > test for xattr > > $ kioclient cp a b > $ attr -l b > <empty> > kio can be modified :) > $ cp a b > $ attr -l b > <empty> > > $ cp -a a b > $ attr -l b > Attribute "simple.attibute" has a 14 byte value for b > > $ rm b > $ rsync a b > $ attr -l b > <empty> > > $ rsync -X a b > $ attr -l b > Attribute "simple.attibute" has a 14 byte value for b > Maybe we could push distros to enable the -a flag by default? Mac does it by default. -- Vishesh Handa