My test is this: sudo tar xjpf stage3-amd64-20101021.tar.bz2 -C test With tar 1.23-r4 all the test/dev/* files are block or character device nodes. With tar-1.24-r1 all the test/dev/* files are empty regular files. The work around is to mask tar-1.24-r1. I believe I am passing the correct arguments to tar as that's how it is specified in the handbook (I left out the "v" argument though). This may also have possible problems with installing packages.
Created attachment 252475 [details] emerge --info
Confirmed in Funtoo Linux.
Since tar-1.24 has been a total trainwreck, I'm going to mask it in Funtoo. I'd recommend masking it in Gentoo as well, since tar-1.24-r1 is potentially hazardous for a variety of tasks in Gentoo (unpacking openvz templates, for one...)
Apparently, it was hard masked in response to bug 342735, albeit in a short-sighted manner: =app-arch/tar-1.24 I suggest that this be amended so as to use the tilde operator post-haste: ~app-arch/tar-1.24
Should try with current git: http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/ If it still fails, should be reported to tar's bug ML.
Fixed by: http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=3913675640f65bb4774429d369681957b528996e
+*tar-1.24-r2 (01 Nov 2010) + + 01 Nov 2010; Samuli Suominen <ssuominen@gentoo.org> +tar-1.24-r2.ebuild, + +files/tar-1.24-device-node.patch: + Fix extraction of device nodes wrt #343245 by Albert W. Hopkins.
