The src2pkg-helpers-x.x.tar.bz2 archive contains the combined sources
for the libraries and binaries which src2pkg uses for building packages.

For convenience, the archives of coreutils, tar and libsentry are combined here
by running the src2pkg-helpers-sources.build script.
This script removes about 20MB of extra files from the coreutils
sources in order to save space. The configuration files are then
patched to ignore the removed directories.

Each of the original archives is available in this same directory.

Several patches are included for tar-1.13 to add functionality which
is available in later versions of tar:
01B-tar-1.13-save-dir-metadata.diff adds the option to preserve the metadata
  for directories instead of overwriting the existing metadata

02B-tar-1.13-bz2.diff adds support for bzip2 archives using the '-j', '--bzip2'
  or '--bunzip2' otpions.

03B-tar-1.13-lzma.diff adds support for lzma archives using the '--lzma' option

04B-tar-1.13-autodetect.diff adds support for auto-detection of the compression
  format, based on the suffix of the filename given with the '-f' option. The
  autodetect feature is enabled with the '-a' or '--auto-compress' options. This
  patch causes these archive suffixes to be recognized and use the corresponding
  compression program:
	Suffix	Compression program 
	'.gz'	gzip
	'.tgz'	gzip
	'.taz'	gzip
	'.Z'	compress
	'.taZ'	compress
	'.bz2'	bzip2
	'.tz2'	bzip2
	'.tbz2'	bzip2
	'.lzma'	lzma
	'.tlz'	lzma

05B-tar-1.13-pet.diff adds support for archives with the '.pet' suffix, which
  are simply '.tgz' archives which have been renamed.

Important Note:
Several people have asked why src2pkg uses such an old version of tar, and if it
can be updated. This is *not* a good idea. src2pkg uses tar-1.13 to maintain
compatibility with the Slackware package format and pkgtools(installpkg and makepkg).
Using any other version of tar breaks this compatibility because of a couple of
quirks in tar-1.13. Packages which are created using any other version of tar
will not be properly handled by installpkg -specifically, they will not be listed
correctly in the package database under /var/log/packages. This causes the package
to be non-removeable using the removepkg program. Later versions of tar also handle
the creation and overwriting of links and directories differently. The tar program
was changed for better POSIX compliance, but the new default behaviours are not
what is wanted to properly install Slackware-compatible packages.

By default, src2pkg uses an internal 'mini' version of makepkg to create the final
package. And if the '-A' option (REALLY_INSTALL=YES) is specified, src2pkg uses an
internal 'mini' version of installpkg to install the finished package on your system.
Both of these routines use src2pkg's own tar-1.13 program which gets compiled and
installed on your system when you run the 'src2pkg --setup' command.

While it would be possible to use the tar-1.13 which is included in the SLackware
'tar' package, src2pkg installs a private copy. This allows you to rebuild the
Slackware 'tar' package, if desired. It also insures that the proper version of
tar is available when using src2pkg on other systems which may not include tar-1.13.

There is no benefit to be had by using a later version of tar, so don't be tempted
to use an updated tar with src2pkg. tar-1.13 does exactly what is needed to properly
handle Slackware-compatible packages. Using any later version can damage your system.
One of the option switches used by installpkg has a completely different meaning
when used with later versions of tar. And, a change in the default behaviour of later
versions causes links to a directory to be overwritten with a real directory if the
uncompressed archive contains the real directory. (For instance, normal Slackware
systems have the link /usr/share/doc which points to the real directory /usr/doc.
If a package which contains the real directory /usr/share/doc is installed using
tar-1.13, the link /usr/share/doc will not be overwritten and files in that directory
of the archive will be 'properly' installed under /usr/doc. If you install the same
package using a later version of tar, the default behaviour would cause the link
on your system to be overwritten with a real directory. Problems may arise from
other differences in the defaults and syntax of later versions. Trust me, I spent
a long time running tests to figure out where and why tar-1.13 is essential to
creating proper Slackware-compatible packages. The long and short of it is, that
it *would* be possible to use a later version of tar to create and install Slackware
packages, but it would require slight changes in the tar option syntax in both
'installpkg' and 'makepkg' and would break backward compatibility with all packages
which were created using tar-1.13. When/if Slackware ever makes the bold step of
breaking backward compatibility, then src2pkg will go along with that as a standard
behaviour. I did write code once which would try to adapt the syntax according to
the version of tar which is found in the normal path, but this was a very long way
of solving what is a non-problem.

Lastly, the patches which are applied to tar-1.13 as used by src2pkg, are not needed
for the basic functionality of src2pkg regarding tarred & gzipped archives. The extra
features are added to make the tar-1.13 more usable if you wind up with no other 'tar'
program installed on your system, and to add features which can be used to create
other types of installable packages, such as '.tlz' and '.pet' packages.