Assuming a /usr/local/src tree exists try: tar -cvpf fred.tar --exclude='*/src/*' /usr/local It still archives /usr/local/src. Same occurs if you use '-X' flag and refer to a file with the pattern in it. Excluding /usr/local/src/* does work. This is a change from RedHat versions 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, and 6.0 and appears to be a bug.
bero, I can verify this, even with tar-1.13.17-1. Shall we downgrade?
I've passed the bug on to bugs-tar - hope they get it fixed for 1.13.18 in time. I don't really want to downgrade because that would get back some bugs that were fixed in between.
The tar maintainers claim it's not a bug, but a feature (better POSIX compliance).