Some how the -R folder recursion argument is missing in version 5.8. It has been replaced with the no-regex argument, without a viable subtitute. This kills ctags productivity and for those without a decent knowledge of the command line, cripples it's use.
Hi,
The -R is actually still there in 5.8, but it looks like you are not using Exuberant Tags, but rather the Emacs ctags, which is a different thing. The Emacs ctags is located in /usr/bin/ctags by default, whereas ctags installs in /usr/local/bin/ctags, and the /usr/bin/ctags will take precedence. You would have to rename/delete the emacs ctags in /usr/bin/ctags.