a bit further down in the same code is the real need for BSLOP:
some pesky `--' in the wrong place, but i digress.

even with the worm, it might depend how often files are created
and destroyed between dumps (eg, big mailboxes rewritten),
and meta-data writes are often forced through to the device i think.
it really depends how accurate the comment is, and whether it does
indeed make any detectable difference now!