rsync -S

[Jeff Voskamp]

T. Horsnell wrote:
> rsync and tar offer the -S switch for 'handling sparse files efficiently'.
> But when would I ever want to handle them INefficiently? i.e. why doesnt it
> do this automatically?
>
> Cheers,
> Terry.
>   
Because detecting sparse files is "expensive".  For files with only a 
few holes (sparely sparse?) it may be deemed cheaper to waste a few 
blocks on the drive rather than the CPU time to handle it "properly".

Jeff