--archive vs --backup

[Wayne Davison]

On Tue, Mar 16, 2004 at 09:29:42AM -0500, alexus wrote:
> Can someone tell me what exactly is the difference between these two?

The --archive option is just a convenience option that preserves all the
attributes of a file while (almost always) turning on directory
recursion.

The --backup option is for maintaining a backup version of every file
that changes.  See also the --backup-dir option in the man page.

..wayne..