> Proverò a uscire dalla directory utente e
> incatramare quella.

Fuori della directory utente non ho i permessi per creare l'archivio .tar.
Dentro,
tar -cpvf insulae.tar ./*
non include i file nascosti
ls -al dà
drwxr-x--- 18 xxxx www 4096 Mar 21 20:46 .
drwxr-xr-x 237 root root 4096 Apr 29 2009 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 1594 Mar 20 23:09 .bash_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 509 Sep 9 2003 .bash_profile
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 1093 Sep 9 2003 .bashrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 166915 Apr 4 2009 .depot-cache
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Feb 6 2009 .depot-doc
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 9 Mar 21 18:37 .disk-usage
drwx------ 3 xxxx users 4096 Feb 19 2005 .email
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 35 Mar 7 2009 .lesshst
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Mar 18 21:23 .maildir
-rw-r--r-- 2 xxxx users 388 Apr 3 2009 .my.cnf
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 6484 Apr 3 2009 .mysql_history
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 0 Mar 25 1999 .no-splash-screen
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 24576 Feb 25 23:00 .phpsession
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Mar 8 21:39 .phpuploads
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 7 Nov 11 2002 .pkg
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 26 Jul 24 2006 .qmail
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 31 Apr 21 2004 .qmail-abete
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 29 Aug 27 2004 .qmail-al
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 29 Apr 21 2004 .qmail-ambiente
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 29 Apr 21 2004 .qmail-dns
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 31 Apr 21 2004 .qmail-fundraising
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 29 Apr 21 2004 .qmail-info
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 63 Feb 19 2005 .qmail-ogs
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 31 Feb 25 2005 .qmail-ogs:abuse
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 31 Feb 24 2005 .qmail-ogs:pro
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 29 Nov 30 2004 .qmail-tute
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 31 Apr 8 2006 .qmail-wildcat
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Mar 5 2005 .secure
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Feb 6 2009 .service
drwx------ 2 xxxx users 4096 Apr 4 2009 .shelltest
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 120 Dec 10 2002 .users
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 5148 Apr 3 2009 .viminfo
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 31 May 15 1998 accounts.old
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 30 May 15 1998 addresses.old
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Feb 10 2009 cgi-bin
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Apr 24 2005 deposito
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Mar 7 2009 ftpshare
drwxrwxr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Feb 9 2009 ictest
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Oct 27 17:51 logs
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Aug 18 2002 mago
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 56 Nov 23 2000 mail
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 21779 Feb 10 2009 manifest
drwx------ 7 xxxx users 4096 Aug 6 2009 mysql
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 970 Feb 9 2009 users
drwxr-xr-x 56 xxxx users 4096 Dec 4 19:58 webshare
ma nel .tar.gz c'è solo
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 31 May 15 1998 accounts.old
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 30 May 15 1998 addresses.old
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Feb 10 2009 cgi-bin
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Apr 24 2005 deposito
drwxr-xr-x 2 xxxx users 4096 Mar 7 2009 ftpshare
drwxrwxr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Feb 9 2009 ictest
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Oct 27 17:51 logs
drwxr-xr-x 3 xxxx users 4096 Aug 18 2002 mago
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 56 Nov 23 2000 mail
-rw-r--r-- 1 xxxx users 21779 Feb 10 2009 manifest
drwx------ 7 xxxx users 4096 Aug 6 2009 mysql
-rw------- 1 xxxx users 970 Feb 9 2009 users
drwxr-xr-x 56 xxxx users 4096 Dec 4 19:58 webshare
Se faccio
tar -rpvf insulae.tar ./.*
aggiunge a insulae.tar tutto ciò che sta in . cioè tutto quello che già esiste, non si limita a copiare i file che iniziano con il punto.
Non è che quei file mi interessino particolarmente, ma mi sto incaponendo perché, se mi interessasse un backup integrale, un modo per metterceli deve pur esserci.