Re: [Gumstix-users] untarring new system

[Dave H. <dhy...@gm...>]

> > Is it possible to replace all the userland files from a tarball on the
> > mmc card with a simple tar -x operation? If a shared library is in
> > use, I can see it failing and I am still anxious about bricking the
> > box.

And actually, the way linux works, its ok to remove a file that's open.

All that really happens is that the file gets unlinked from the file
system. However, since the file is in use, the sectors for the file
don't get released until the file is closed. The application that has
the file open will continue to access the old file data.

You should be able to replace it and then when you reboot, the lost
cluster should be recovered.

--=20
Dave Hylands
Vancouver, BC, Canada
http://www.DaveHylands.com/