-This has several effects: (1) in-use binaries cannot be updated (either the
-OS will prevent this from happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in
-their data will misbehave or crash), (2) the file's data will be in an
-inconsistent state during the transfer, (3) a file's data may be left in an
-inconsistent state after the transfer if the transfer is interrupted or if
-an update fails, (4) a file that does not have write permissions can not be
-updated, and (5) the efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be
-reduced if some data in the destination file is overwritten before it can
-be copied to a position later in the file (one exception to this is if you
-combine this option with bf(--backup), since rsync is smart enough to use
-the backup file as the basis file for the transfer).
+This has several effects:
+
+quote(itemization(
+ it() Hard links are not broken. This means the new data will be visible
+ through other hard links to the destination file. Moreover, attempts to
+ copy differing source files onto a multiply-linked destination file will
+ result in a "tug of war" with the destination data changing back and forth.
+ it() In-use binaries cannot be updated (either the OS will prevent this from
+ happening, or binaries that attempt to swap-in their data will misbehave or
+ crash).
+ it() The file's data will be in an inconsistent state during the transfer
+ and will be left that way if the transfer is interrupted or if an update
+ fails.
+ it() A file that does not have write permissions cannot be updated.
+ it() The efficiency of rsync's delta-transfer algorithm may be reduced if
+ some data in the destination file is overwritten before it can be copied to
+ a position later in the file. This does not apply if you use bf(--backup),
+ since rsync is smart enough to use the backup file as the basis file for the
+ transfer.
+))