Re: Meaning of file flags

[Greg Troxel <gdt%lexort.com@localhost>]

Rocky Hotas <rockyhotas%firemail.cc@localhost> writes:

>> +The
>> +.Va arch
>> +flag is only used in connection with certain
>> +filesystems (e.g., MS-DOS), where it indicates whether
>> +a file has been modified since it was last backed up.

I find that very surprising.  AIUI, these flags date from 4.4BSD, and
there was not a strong culture of interoperating with MS-DOS
filesystems.  And, people were aware of TOPS-20 and more mainframe type
systems, where there was an idea that a file would be migrated to tape
but still have an entry in the filesystem.

I would suggest reading the 4.4BSD sources, or our own history, to see
what the flags did.  It is also possible they were defined as a possible
future good idea and never really used.



> Considering the first lines of the section `Usage' here:
>
>  <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive_bit>

That's about

  "CP/M, Microsoft operating systems, OS/2, and AmigaOS"

according to the article.  I do not expect the authors of the BSD code
to have considered themselves to be implementing a compatible feature
from CP/M.