gunzip -c myfolder.tar.gz | tar -xf - This is in action. Two tools, each doing one thing well, combined into a powerhouse. 🔄 Part 3: Why Not Just Use ZIP? ZIP does both: archiving + compression. So why does the open-source world still love .tar.gz ?
Let’s unpack it. (Pun intended.) First, meet tar (Tape ARchive). Born in the early days of Unix, tar was designed for tape drives . Its job was simple: Take a bunch of files and folders, glue them into one big byte stream, preserving permissions, owners, and directory structure. That’s it. No compression. Just packing . gzipped tarball
The flags stick like glue: reate, e x tract, z (gzip), f ile. 🎁 Final Thought The next time you curl a .tar.gz of some GitHub repo, think of the 1970s tape drives, the 1990s compression wars, and the stubborn Unix philosophy of “do one thing well.” gunzip -c myfolder
| Feature | .tar.gz | .zip | |--------|-----------|--------| | Preserves Unix permissions | ✅ Yes | ❌ No (ignores execute bits, symlinks) | | Streamable | ✅ Yes (tape/pipe friendly) | ❌ Needs central directory at end | | Open standard | ✅ Fully | ⚠️ Partially (some extensions proprietary) | | Compression ratio | ✅ Very good (DEFLATE) | ✅ Same algorithm | | Random access | ❌ Painful | ✅ Possible | ZIP does both: archiving + compression