Zipping files

[Richard Gaskin]

Jacqueline wrote:
> I need to compress large-ish files, around 50-100 megs each. I  
> wonder if anyone knows whether zip or gz format is easier on RAM.  
> Is it correct that both methods require about double the amount of  
> RAM as the file size? Is one preferable over the other under low  
> memory conditions? Are there any other considerations when choosing  
> between the two?

Many moons ago I had occasion to decompress what turned out to be a 
560MB file (started out as about 130MBs) - I used the built-in 
decompress command, and it worked fine on even an old 500MHz Mac running 
OS X 10.2 with maybe half a gig of RAM.  It took a while (one might 
expect that with any tool on that machine with that file), but finished 
with no problems.

So suffice to say I've never bothered looking into other options since 
then. :)

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
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