Don't Use RAR • Hacker News Board

Re: Don't Use RAR

#141

Post by anthk » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:16 PM UTC

Ayesh wrote: post #58

I strongly prefer WinRAR (the software) because it does everything I am looking for in an archiving and compressing software. - It is a great tool for archiving. Especially in Windows, it is often faster to compress a rar archive than copying several hundreds of files. This fills the lack of a `tar` tool in Windows space. - It supports changing the compression level during the compression. - Highly backwards compatib…

>- WinRAR supports various formats such as ISO, JAR, and a few typical zip-ish formats.

Jar is just a ZIP. ISO's can be mounted under Unix.

> - Context-aware extraction. For example, if you double click a PNG, it only extracts that PNG file. For an exe, it extracts the whole thing.

Any software does that since... Amiga days?

>- Splitting files, locked archives, AES protection, SFX, and other features are easily accessible.

Splitting exists since forever.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#142

Post by anthk » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

lifthrasiir wrote: post #108

nix23 wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you try to compress pictures....in your case zip is as good as everything else (and less problematic to open)

Or if your friends all have WinZip and can tolerate .zipx (which is a file extension for later and thus less interoperable version of ZIP), it does support JPEG recompression so it can be actually better than RAR.

Any lossy compression format it's crap.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#143

Post by abruzzi » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

I have never by choice used rar /or/ 7z. I'm not a heavy user of compression, just the occasional "compress for transport", so to me any savings in file size is an unnoticable rounding error, even 15 years ago. Far more important to me is the simplicity of having tools for compression/decompression built into pretty much any computer that might receive my file, and where the receiver of the file, who may not be technologically adept, knows what it is without me having to explain that it is a compressed file and they neeed to get some tool to decompress it.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#144

Post by ksec » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:18 PM UTC

account42 wrote: post #135

ksec wrote: post #100

If you have half decent internet connection, Compressing and Decompressing the files is going to take more time than simply just sending it or downloading it. I still remember we use to compare compression tools and format on compression ratio. But I cant record the last time I care about any of these any more. If it needs to compress just use zip. The same happened to Audio Codec as well. Video Codec is where we sti…

> If you have half decent internet connection, Compressing and Decompressing the files is going to take more time than simply just sending it or downloading it. This might be true for transmitting files 1-to-1 (and even then, for every connection speed slower than memory there is likely a compression algorithm that makes sense) but most files are distributed 1-to-many which is why algorithms like deflate that might b…

It is just an observation I have for quite some time. Right now iOS and macOS spend more time decompressing and verifying the update / download than the time it spend to do transfer. I understand not everyone has fast interest, but someday we may want to start optimise for end to end time rather than just downloading time.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#145

Post by bitwize » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:19 PM UTC

mimsee wrote: post #125

kstenerud wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the winrar download page you can download the binaries directly without agreeing to any license, which means its clauses wouldn't apply. It's already been established in the courts that merely using a piece of software does not imply acceptance of licensing terms; the parties must actively agree to it. That's why so many companies push in-your-face agreements that you must actively click "I agree" to.

Could I then download a zip of torvalds/linux from github and use it without abiding by the license as it’s never thrown in my face?

Yes! Unlike other licenses, the GPL explicitly covers distribution, not use.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#146

Post by xtracto » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:20 PM UTC

noAnswer wrote: post #50

RAR is a full-blown backup format* while 7zip is "just" an archive format. So comparisons are somewhat mood. But even I as a RAR fan and license holder have to agree. For the average joe, sending email attachments, zip or 7z is enough. * It can safe all three file timestamps (From nanoseconds precision (with NTFS), down to only 2 seconds precision (if you want to shave of a view bytes)), ACLs, ADS, Hard and Soft Link…

RAR is the only archive/compression format that can include a PAR2 like recovery record. You can even configure what % of the size to dedicate for that.

That has been a great killer feature for me over the years.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#147

Post by KronisLV » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:22 PM UTC

For all of my compression needs, i usually go for 7-Zip for longer term storage (since while it is noticeably slower than the alternatives, the ratios can be really good for formats that compress well, e.g. anything other than images or videos).

I also use ZIP for when i need good compatibility and relatively fast compression (since zip/unzip are easy to use as far as CLIs got and 7-Zip also supports the format, as does whatever my *nix distro at the choice has for a GUI compression program).

I sometimes use tar with GZip for when i just want to temporarily compress something to move between servers without worrying about file permissions etc.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#148

Post by anthk » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:24 PM UTC

noAnswer wrote: post #50

RAR is a full-blown backup format* while 7zip is "just" an archive format. So comparisons are somewhat mood. But even I as a RAR fan and license holder have to agree. For the average joe, sending email attachments, zip or 7z is enough. * It can safe all three file timestamps (From nanoseconds precision (with NTFS), down to only 2 seconds precision (if you want to shave of a view bytes)), ACLs, ADS, Hard and Soft Link…

Unix users will just use TAR/PAX for that and then compress the package. Much better.

Re: Don't Use RAR

#149

Post by xtracto » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:26 PM UTC

ihateolives wrote: post #37

david_draco wrote: post #6

This is conflating archive format with compression algorithm. The very broad statement "7-Zip achieves a better compression ratio, but it is much slower to compress than RAR" should be demonstrated over all compression levels with a curve of compression-ratio vs time. I am skeptical RAR cannot be outperformed by 7zip in at least some situations. The license is the strongest argument to not use RAR.

> The license is the strongest argument to not use RAR. Why? Most of the daily tools that keep business world running are closed source. Excel. Or Photoshop. Or Windows/MacOS itself. But RAR license and not being open source is now pushing it too far? Really?

The same people that moan about some software being closed source will come back later crying because said software became a SaaS internet business with monthly fees...

There's nothing wrong with closed source for profit software. I'll never understand why people in this field push to discredit a honest way to earn money from the work they do...

It's as if Medics would cry because other medics are charging them for a medical visit. Dirty medics trying to profit from their knowledge and time!!

Re: Don't Use RAR

#150

Post by lifthrasiir » Fri, Feb 25, 2022, 2:26 PM UTC

anthk wrote: post #142

lifthrasiir wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or if your friends all have WinZip and can tolerate .zipx (which is a file extension for later and thus less interoperable version of ZIP), it does support JPEG recompression so it can be actually better than RAR.

Any lossy compression format it's crap.

No, JPEG recompression I meant is not lossy here; it is essentially taking the internal JPEG data structure and losslessly compressing them in more modern techniques. If you want there is also an open source algorithm [1] developed and used by Dropbox.

[1] https://github.com/dropbox/lepton