I cd to /home/steve/test-it/build/Sumo/ and run tar. Do I need to
start counting from 'Sumo/' or from '/home' ? (and is there an easy
way to do this? Should I even be worried at all?)
From Sumo. Easy way to find longest filename:
find . -print | awk '{print length}' | sort -n | tail -1
But I think the problem is the longest *symlink*, so you'll need
find . -type l -print | awk '{print length}' | sort -n | tail -1
-sew