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.bz2 compression

 
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# 1  
Old 01-18-2005
.bz2 compression
I have heard that bz2 compression a relatively new compression encoding algorithm, far superior to tar and gz. I also remember that I downloaded a FreeBSD LiveCD a while back that was only a couple hundred megs instead of the usual 650ish using bz2 - big difference, I'd say. But to the point, what are the commands to compress/uncompress using bz2 and would I need to download any files to get it to work?

Thanks in advance,
Robert
# 2  
Old 01-18-2005
As you may have guessed, bzip2/bunzip2 can be used for compressing/decompressing bzipped archives. Of course there is bzcat as well.

I usually use one of the two commands to decompress a bzipped archive:

tar xjf something.tar.bz2
bunzip2 something.tar.bz2 | tar xf -

(2nd for non GNU-tar)

Usage is similar to that of gzip. You can search for more examples or read the manpage.

Modern Unix distributions usually have them. If not you may consider to get one from http://sources.redhat.com/bzip2/.
# 3  
Old 01-19-2005
Ah, wonderful! Thank you.
# 4  
Old 01-19-2005
Oh, how would I compress a directory in bz2?
Last edited by Phobos; 01-19-2005 at 12:25 AM..
# 5  
Old 01-19-2005
tar cvjf mydir.tar.bz2 /my/dir/here

Will tar recursively then compress with bzip2 (for GNU tar).

Cheers
ZB
 
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