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tar
Raised as a usability problem by 19 people on Hacker News over 11 years (2014–2024), in 16 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads in the last 5 years.
Every issue, all time, most people first
Tar options are confusing, requiring manpage lookupsUnreviewed
20142026- Keeps confusing tar's options, so has to pause and look up the manpage2024-07-11
- Has to google how to use tar properly every time2018-12-07
- Tar command is so hard to get right that users fail on the first try2017-10-27
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 19 complaints
- Keeps confusing tar's options, so has to pause and look up the manpage2024-07-11
- Double file extension confuses people whose file managers hide extensions2022-02-25
- Tar archives must be fully scanned to list their files, so browsing gets slow2022-02-25
- Can't remember whether unpacking creates a subdirectory or spills files into home2021-11-24
- Lowercase and uppercase flags have opposite meanings, risking deleting files without warning2020-09-04
- Users must memorize arbitrary tar flags and googles the syntax each time2020-03-03
- Man page's Examples section is unhelpful and intimidating for new users2020-01-23
- Common extract use case buried; manpage too long to find quick answers2019-06-24
- Has to google how to use tar properly every time2018-12-07
- Large tarballs are slow to use without random access on slow disks2018-05-16
- Needs three or four cryptic arguments for basic archiving2017-11-17
- Tar command is so hard to get right that users fail on the first try2017-10-27
- Confusing parameter ordering and switch handling, so occasional users must look up examples2016-10-05
- Command-line options are so poorly designed that users must memorize them and consult the man page for anything new2016-07-24
- Users can't discover tar's flag combinations from its man pages2015-11-03
- Command flags are hard to figure out without rereading the man page repeatedly2015-11-03
- Rarely creates archives, so can't remember which tar flag to use2015-04-22
- Users must memorize arcane flag incantations like -z and -f for common archive tasks2014-10-10
- Has to search personal wiki to remember how to use tar2014-10-10