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#1 2013-05-09 07:35:35

doru001
Member
Registered: 2013-01-25
Posts: 138

gzip version [SOLVED]

I downloaded some files from box.com and they were in a .zip format and gunzip does not work and file says "Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract". Am I missing something, or arch is behind with upstream updating, or the upstream development is so much behind Windows that version 2 is widely used on the net but not yet implemented in gzip?

Last edited by doru001 (2013-05-09 11:20:45)

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#2 2013-05-09 07:44:24

karol
Archivist
Registered: 2009-05-06
Posts: 25,440

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

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#3 2013-05-09 08:45:23

SidK
Member
Registered: 2011-03-03
Posts: 116

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

While karol is right, I feel that the 'why' should be explained here too. There are several algorithms to compress data. zip, as is common in the windows ecosystems is not the same as gzip, as is common in the GNU/Linux and OS X ecosystem. Additionally there's bzip2, xz, 7z, rar and more.

gunzip is specifically for decompressing gzipped data, it doesn't try to handle any other formats and so that it cannot decompress a zip archive is not a fault of Archlinux or upstream. unzip, to which karol linked, is the correct™ solution.

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#4 2013-05-09 11:20:19

doru001
Member
Registered: 2013-01-25
Posts: 138

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

Thank you both, this is just great.

I always find trademarks illogical, especially when it is about standards and not specific code.

.gz is for gunzip and .zip for unzip.

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#5 2013-05-09 11:21:00

Trilby
Inspector Parrot
Registered: 2011-11-29
Posts: 29,444
Website

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

Also atool is *very* handy.  The aunpack command (part of atool) will detect what compression was used and apply the right decompression tool.  You'll still need these decompression tools installed, but atool removes a lot of guesswork/investigative work when someone sends you a mystery-compressed file.


"UNIX is simple and coherent..." - Dennis Ritchie, "GNU's Not UNIX" -  Richard Stallman

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#6 2013-05-09 11:23:20

x33a
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2009-08-15
Posts: 4,587

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

doru001 wrote:

I downloaded some files from box.com and they were in a .zip format and gunzip does not work and file says "Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract". Am I missing something, or arch is behind with upstream updating, or the upstream development is so much behind Windows that version 2 is widely used on the net but not yet implemented in gzip?

Not trying to sound rude but, you really have no idea what you are talking about?

As SidK explained, gzip handles only *.gz files. Do you complain that it doesn't handle *.bz2 or *.xz and so on?

What you need is a frontend like xarchiver, or something like peazip which handles a multitude of formats.

Please do some research before posting.

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#7 2013-05-10 08:43:02

doru001
Member
Registered: 2013-01-25
Posts: 138

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

x33a wrote:
doru001 wrote:

I downloaded some files from box.com and they were in a .zip format and gunzip does not work and file says "Zip archive data, at least v2.0 to extract". Am I missing something, or arch is behind with upstream updating, or the upstream development is so much behind Windows that version 2 is widely used on the net but not yet implemented in gzip?

Not trying to sound rude but, you really have no idea what you are talking about?

As SidK explained, gzip handles only *.gz files. Do you complain that it doesn't handle *.bz2 or *.xz and so on?

What you need is a frontend like xarchiver, or something like peazip which handles a multitude of formats.

Please do some research before posting.

I thought that gzip is gnu for microsoft zip and that it handles .zip files. No wiki pages for zip or gzip. pacman -Ss zip returns 36 lines and I did not notice the unzip utility, especially as I did not expect it to be there. file said that I need version 2 but it did not specify the utility of which I need version 2. (It said "Zip file", which did not point me to the zip utility.) A fast search on google did not help, either. Nothing on bbs. Now, please tell me two or three ways that would have allowed me to find the answer without knowing it in advance.

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#8 2013-05-10 08:43:51

doru001
Member
Registered: 2013-01-25
Posts: 138

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

Trilby wrote:

Also atool is *very* handy.  The aunpack command (part of atool) will detect what compression was used and apply the right decompression tool.  You'll still need these decompression tools installed, but atool removes a lot of guesswork/investigative work when someone sends you a mystery-compressed file.

Thanks, I made a note on this.

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#9 2013-05-10 09:01:40

Raynman
Member
Registered: 2011-10-22
Posts: 1,539

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

doru001 wrote:

Now, please tell me two or three ways that would have allowed me to find the answer without knowing it in advance.

Googling "gunzip zip file" gives me a similar question (+answer) on another forum and the wikipedia page for gzip, which says:

gzip is not to be confused with the ZIP archive format, which also uses DEFLATE.

So while your initial confusion is understandable, x33a is not being completely unreasonable; it's not that hard to find out.

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#10 2013-05-10 09:03:25

x33a
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2009-08-15
Posts: 4,587

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

doru001 wrote:

I thought that gzip is gnu for microsoft zip and that it handles .zip files.

That's fine, misconceptions can happen with anyone.

No wiki pages for zip or gzip.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gzip (Arch Wiki is not the only wiki you should refer to wink).

pacman -Ss zip returns 36 lines and I did not notice the unzip utility, especially as I did not expect it to be there.

This is where you should have paid attention. Not noticing the package is something pacman cannot help you with.
Also, you can use regex like

$ pacman -Ss ^zip

or

$ pacman -Ss zip$

These well help trim the results down.

file said that I need version 2 but it did not specify the utility of which I need version 2. (It said "Zip file", which did not point me to the zip utility.)

That's not file's job, as there can many software which can be used for the same purpose. It should (and does) only tell the format.

A fast search on google did not help, either. Nothing on bbs.

https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl= … ip%20files

Now, please tell me two or three ways that would have allowed me to find the answer without knowing it in advance.

I guess that should satisfy you.

Please don't mind, I am just trying to point out the lack of proper research on your part.

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#11 2013-05-10 09:22:52

doru001
Member
Registered: 2013-01-25
Posts: 138

Re: gzip version [SOLVED]

I should have searched 'unzip zip on linux'. Indeed, file only cares about the compression standard, not even about libraries' versions. I hoped that I would get some tip from it, anyway. The problem is that I was missing the big picture, and I got lost.

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