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+$FreeBSD$
+
+libarchive: a library for reading and writing streaming archives
+
+This is all under a BSD license. Use, enjoy, but don't blame me if it breaks!
+
+Documentation:
+ * libarchive.3 gives an overview of the library as a whole
+ * archive_read.3, archive_write.3, and archive_write_disk.3 provide
+ detailed calling sequences for the read and write APIs
+ * archive_entry.3 details the "struct archive_entry" utility class
+ * libarchive-formats.5 documents the file formats supported by the library
+ * tar.5 provides some detailed information about a variety of different
+ "tar" formats.
+
+You should also read the copious comments in "archive.h" and the source
+code for the sample "bsdtar" and "minitar" programs for more details.
+Please let me know about any errors or omissions you find.
+
+Currently, the library automatically detects and reads the following:
+ * gzip compression
+ * bzip2 compression
+ * compress/LZW compression
+ * lzma and xz compression
+ * GNU tar format (including GNU long filenames, long link names, and
+ sparse files)
+ * Solaris 9 extended tar format (including ACLs)
+ * Old V7 tar archives
+ * POSIX ustar
+ * POSIX pax interchange format
+ * POSIX octet-oriented cpio
+ * SVR4 ASCII cpio
+ * Binary cpio (big-endian or little-endian)
+ * ISO9660 CD-ROM images (with optional Rockridge or Joliet extensions)
+ * ZIP archives (with uncompressed or "deflate" compressed entries)
+ * GNU and BSD 'ar' archives
+ * 'mtree' format
+
+The library can write:
+ * gzip compression
+ * bzip2 compression
+ * compress/LZW compression
+ * lzma and xz compression
+ * POSIX ustar
+ * POSIX pax interchange format
+ * "restricted" pax format, which will create ustar archives except for
+ entries that require pax extensions (for long filenames, ACLs, etc).
+ * POSIX octet-oriented cpio
+ * SVR4 "newc" cpio
+ * shar archives
+ * ZIP archives (with uncompressed or "deflate" compressed entries)
+ * GNU and BSD 'ar' archives
+ * 'mtree' format
+
+Notes:
+ * This is a heavily stream-oriented system. There is no direct
+ support for in-place modification or random access and no intention
+ of ever adding such support. Adding such support would require
+ sacrificing a lot of other features, so don't bother asking.
+
+ * The library is designed to be extended with new compression and
+ archive formats. The only requirement is that the format be
+ readable or writable as a stream and that each archive entry be
+ independent.
+
+ * On read, compression and format are always detected automatically.
+
+ * I've attempted to minimize static link pollution. If you don't
+ explicitly invoke a particular feature (such as support for a
+ particular compression or format), it won't get pulled in.
+ In particular, if you don't explicitly enable a particular
+ compression or decompression support, you won't need to link
+ against the corresponding compression or decompression libraries.
+ This also reduces the size of statically-linked binaries in
+ environments where that matters.
+
+ * On read, the library accepts whatever blocks you hand it.
+ Your read callback is free to pass the library a byte at a time
+ or mmap the entire archive and give it to the library at once.
+ On write, the library always produces correctly-blocked
+ output.
+
+ * The object-style approach allows you to have multiple archive streams
+ open at once. bsdtar uses this in its "@archive" extension.
+
+ * The archive itself is read/written using callback functions.
+ You can read an archive directly from an in-memory buffer or
+ write it to a socket, if you wish. There are some utility
+ functions to provide easy-to-use "open file," etc, capabilities.
+
+ * The read/write APIs are designed to allow individual entries
+ to be read or written to any data source: You can create
+ a block of data in memory and add it to a tar archive without
+ first writing a temporary file. You can also read an entry from
+ an archive and write the data directly to a socket. If you want
+ to read/write entries to disk, the archive_write_disk interface
+ treats a directory as if it were an archive so you can copy
+ from archive->disk using the same code you use for archive->archive
+ transfers.
+
+ * Note: "pax interchange format" is really an extended tar format,
+ despite what the name says.
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