How can I evaluate the best choice of archive format for compressing files?
- by Mehrdad
In general, I've observed the following:
Linux-y files or tools use bzip2 or gzip for distributing archives
Windows-y files or tools use ZIP for distributing archives
Many people use 7-Zip for creating and distributing their own archives
Questions:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of these formats, all of which appear to be open formats? When/why should I choose one (say, 7-Zip) over another (say, ZIP)?
Why does the trend above appear to hold, even though all of these are portable formats? Are there any particular advantages to using a particular archive format on a particular platform?