gzip can be used to (de)compress directories recursively in a variable:
FOO=$(tar cf - folderToCompress | gzip | base64)
echo $FOO | base64 - d | zcat | tar xf -
How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
71–80 of 81 posts
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#72Found this hilarious: > This post is packed with so much history and information that I feel like some citations need be added > I am the reference (extracted a part of the conversation)
Reminds me of when I was inadvertently arguing here on HN with the inventor of the actor model about what actors are
Oh, I remember that conversation, it was fun.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
I had forgotten about modem compression. Back in the BBS days when you had to upload files to get new files, you usually had a ratio (20 bytes download for every byte you uploaded). I would always use the PKZIP no compression option for the archive to upload because Z-Modem would take care of compression over the wire. So I didn't burn my daily time limit by uploading a large file and I got more credit for my downloa…
That's really clever and likely would have gone unnoticed by a lot of sysops!
Another download ratio trick was to use a file transfer client like Leech Modem, an XMODEM-compatible client that would, after downloading the final data block, tell the server the file transfer failed so it wouldn’t count against your download limit.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
You could publish a little webpage called "An historical note about the Docker prototype" under your own name, which you could then cite on Wikipedia. I think it makes perfect sense as a general and strict policy for an encyclopedia. It would simply be too hard to audit every case to check if it's someone like you, or a crank.
That may fall afoul of the "reputably published" requirement at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research... Basically, Wikipedia wants a primary source's claims to be vetted by a third party, either a "reputable publisher" or a secondary source.
Doesn't that disqualify just about any personal blog as a source, or any academic preprint (like on Arxiv)? I can't imagine that's widely enforced.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
That may fall afoul of the "reputably published" requirement at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:No_original_research... Basically, Wikipedia wants a primary source's claims to be vetted by a third party, either a "reputable publisher" or a secondary source.
Doesn't that disqualify just about any personal blog as a source, or any academic preprint (like on Arxiv)? I can't imagine that's widely enforced.
Well, stuff like the ArXiv is exactly what they don't want cited
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
I learned this when I tried correcting the wikipedia page on Docker. I literally wrote the first prototype. But this wasn't enough source for wikipedia. And to this day the English page is still not truthfull (interestingly enough, the french version is closer to the truth).
You could publish a little webpage called "An historical note about the Docker prototype" under your own name, which you could then cite on Wikipedia. I think it makes perfect sense as a general and strict policy for an encyclopedia. It would simply be too hard to audit every case to check if it's someone like you, or a crank.
you'd have to publish under another name. reference to the author's blog is also disallowed
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's really clever and likely would have gone unnoticed by a lot of sysops!
Another download ratio trick was to use a file transfer client like Leech Modem, an XMODEM-compatible client that would, after downloading the final data block, tell the server the file transfer failed so it wouldn’t count against your download limit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/LeechModem
That's awesome! I totally would have used that as a young punk if I knew about it.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
> And that's for good reason. Encyclopedias are supposed to be tertiary sources, not primary sources. Having an explicit cited reference makes it easier to judge the veracity of a statement compared to digging through the page history to figure out if a line was added by a person who happens to be an expert. But why is a reference to "[1] Blog post by XXX" (or, even worse, "[1] Blog post by YYY based on their tentati…
> Wikipedia potentially has no proof that the editor was actually XXX in the latter case; but they have even less proof that a blog post purporting to be by XXX actually is. Wikipedia is not an authoritative identity layer, it provides no proof of identity and is thus strictly weaker than any other proof you can come up with. If you don't trust any arbitrary website that Wikipedia cites, then you have no more reason…
> Wikipedia is not an authoritative identity layer, it provides no proof of identity and is thus strictly weaker than any other proof you can come up with. If you don't trust any arbitrary website that Wikipedia cites, then you have no more reason to trust any arbitrary Wikipedia editor.
It's the "strictly" with which I take issue. I certainly have no more reason to trust that a Wikipedia user whose username is BigImportantDude is actually a particular Big Important Dude than to trust the analogous fact about a blog post purporting to be authored by the Big Important Dude; but I dispute the fact that I should trust it less.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes. Do this (make sure it's not a top-level submission) and cite the HN comment specifically. Stupid rules deserve stupid compliance.
Why would a top-level submission not be valid on Wikipedia?
It (presumably) would; the problem is that it could be considered more dignified and academically respectable than a random forum comment.
Re: How are zlib, gzip and zip related?
#80What a great historical summary. Compression has moved on now but having grown up marveling at PKZip and maximizing usable space on very early computers, as well as compression in modems (v42bis ftw!), this field has always seemed magical. These days it generally is better to prefer Zstandard to zlib/gzip for many reasons. And if you need seekable format, consider squashfs as a reasonable choice. These stand on the s…
I had forgotten about modem compression. Back in the BBS days when you had to upload files to get new files, you usually had a ratio (20 bytes download for every byte you uploaded). I would always use the PKZIP no compression option for the archive to upload because Z-Modem would take care of compression over the wire. So I didn't burn my daily time limit by uploading a large file and I got more credit for my downloa…
That sounds like it can be fooled by making a zip bomb that will compress down to a few KB (by the modem), but will be many MB uncompressed. Sounds great for your ratio, and will upload in a few seconds.