Quoting the manual
When extracting files, if `tar' discovers that the extracted file
already exists, it normally replaces the file by removing it before
extracting it, to prevent confusion in the presence of hard or
symbolic links. (If the existing file is a symbolic link, it is
removed, not followed.) However, if a directory cannot be removed
because it is nonempty, `tar' neither removes it nor modifies its
ownership, permissions, or time stamps.
I guess, that tar removes a file which is to be replaced by an archive
member before extracting, right?
Then I cannot see any difference to
Finally, the `--unlink-first' (`-U') option can improve performance
in some cases by causing `tar' to remove files unconditionally before
extracting them.
`--unlink-first'
`-U'
Directs `tar' to remove the corresponding file from the file
system before extracting it from the archive. *Note Writing::.
So, what's the purpose of the '--unlink-first' option? What does
"unconditionally" mean in this context?
As far as I understand the default operation when extracting, there are
no circumstances under which tar would not unlink a file prior to
extracting the archive member (unless the '--overwrite' option is
supplied, of cause).
Could somebody please clarify that to me?
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