Slackware Linux Essentials
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15.2 `bzip2`

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bzip2(1) is an alternative compression program installed on -Slackware Linux. It uses a different compression algorithm from gzip, which results in some advantages and some disadvantages. The -main advantage for bzip2 is the compressed file size. bzip2 will almost always compress better than gzip. In some instances, this can result in dramatically smaller -files. This can be a great advantage for people on slower modem connections. Also -remember, when downloading software from a public ftp server, it's generally good -netiquette to download the .bz2 files instead of the .gz files, as this results in less overhead for the generous people -hosting the server.

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The disadvantage to bzip2 is that it is more CPU intensive -than gzip. This means that bzipping a file will generally take -longer and will use more of the CPU than gzipping the file would. When considering which -compression program to use, you must weigh this speed vs. compressed size and determine -which is more important.

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The usage of bzip2 is nearly identical to gzip, so not much time will be spent discussing it. Like gunzip, bunzip2 is identical to bzip2 -d. The primary difference in practical usage is that bzip2 uses the .bz2 extension.

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-% bzip2 filename
-% bunzip2 filename.bz2
-% bzip2 -9 filename
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15.2 bzip2

15.2 `bzip2`