Update READMEs.

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Con Kolivas 2011-03-19 00:31:17 +11:00
parent 53a6dfd723
commit 1b05ad0750
2 changed files with 37 additions and 14 deletions

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README
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@ -65,10 +65,8 @@ lrztar wrapper to fake a complete archiver.
really usable (for compression) with less than 256MB. Decompression requires really usable (for compression) with less than 256MB. Decompression requires
less ram and works on smaller ram machines. Sometimes swap may need to be less ram and works on smaller ram machines. Sometimes swap may need to be
enabled on these lower ram machines for the operating system to be happy. enabled on these lower ram machines for the operating system to be happy.
3. Only stdin in compression works well. The other combinations of 3. STDIN/STDOUT works fine on both compression and decompression, but larger
stdin/stdout work but in a very inefficient manner generating temporary files files compressed in this manner will end up being less efficiently compressed.
on disk so this method of using lrzip is not recommended. Solutions for this
limitation are still under consideration.
The unique feature of lrzip is that it tries to make the most of the available The unique feature of lrzip is that it tries to make the most of the available
ram in your system at all times for maximum benefit. It does this by default, ram in your system at all times for maximum benefit. It does this by default,
@ -100,6 +98,19 @@ make install
FAQS. FAQS.
Q. What encryption does lrzip use?
A. Lrzip uses the best current proven technologies to achieve high grade
password protected encryption. It uses a combination of sha512 to multiply
hash the password with random salt and aes128 to do block encryption of each
block of data with more random salt. The amount of initial hashing of the
password increases by the date an lrzip archive is encrypted according to
Moore's law, making it harder each year to brute force attack the password
to keep up with the increasing computing power each year. It is virtually
guaranteed that the same file encrypted with the same password will never
be the same twice. The weakest link in this encryption mode by far is the
password chosen by the user. There is currently no known attack or backdoor
for this encryption mechanism, and there is absolutely no way of retrieving
your password should you forget it.
Q. How do I make a static build? Q. How do I make a static build?
A. make static A. make static
@ -147,10 +158,13 @@ A. The code is POSIXy with GNU extensions. Patches are welcome. Version 0.43+
should build on MacOSX 10.5+ should build on MacOSX 10.5+
Q. Does it work on stdin/stdout? Q. Does it work on stdin/stdout?
A. Yes it does. Compression from stdin works nicely, but still not as well as A. Yes it does. Compression and decompression work well to/from STDIN/STDOUT.
working directly on files. However the other combinations of stdin and stdout However because lrzip does multiple passes on the data, it has to store a
use temporary files on disk because of seeking requirements so the performance large amount in ram before it dumps it to STDOUT (and vice versa), thus it
of these mode is low. Not recommended! is unable to work with the massive compression windows regular operation
provides. Thus the compression afforded on files larger than approximately
25% RAM size will be less efficient (though still benefiting compared to
traditional compression formats).
Q. I have another compression format that is even better than zpaq, can you Q. I have another compression format that is even better than zpaq, can you
use that? use that?
@ -178,7 +192,7 @@ possible that data is compressible by the other backend (zpaq, lzma etc) and not
at all by lzo, but in practice such data achieves only minuscule amounts of at all by lzo, but in practice such data achieves only minuscule amounts of
compression which are not worth pursuing. Most of the time it is clear one way compression which are not worth pursuing. Most of the time it is clear one way
or the other that data is compressible or not. If you wish to disable this or the other that data is compressible or not. If you wish to disable this
test and force it to try compressing it anyway, use -T 0. test and force it to try compressing it anyway, use -T.
Q. I have truckloads of ram so I can compress files much better, but can my Q. I have truckloads of ram so I can compress files much better, but can my
generated file be decompressed on machines with less ram? generated file be decompressed on machines with less ram?
@ -211,7 +225,7 @@ pre-processing phase so when using one of the more CPU intensive backend
compressions like lzma or zpaq, SMP machines will show massive speed compressions like lzma or zpaq, SMP machines will show massive speed
improvements. Lrzip will detect the number of CPUs to use, but it can be improvements. Lrzip will detect the number of CPUs to use, but it can be
overridden with the -p option if the slightly better compression is desired overridden with the -p option if the slightly better compression is desired
more than speed. more than speed. -p 1 will give the best compression but also be the slowest.
Q. This uses heaps of memory, can I make it use less? Q. This uses heaps of memory, can I make it use less?
A. Well you can by setting -w to the lowest value (1) but the huge use of A. Well you can by setting -w to the lowest value (1) but the huge use of
@ -300,7 +314,8 @@ LIMITATIONS
Due to mmap limitations the maximum size a window can be set to is currently Due to mmap limitations the maximum size a window can be set to is currently
2GB on 32bit unless the -U option is specified. Files generated on 64 bit 2GB on 32bit unless the -U option is specified. Files generated on 64 bit
machines with windows >2GB in size might not be decompressible on 32bit machines with windows >2GB in size might not be decompressible on 32bit
machines. machines. Large files might not decompress on machines with less RAM if SWAP is
disabled.
BUGS: BUGS:
Probably lots. Tell me if you spot any :) Probably lots. Tell me if you spot any :)
@ -326,10 +341,11 @@ and the update to the multithreaded lzma library and all sorts of other
features. Thanks to René Rhéaume for fixing executable stacks and features. Thanks to René Rhéaume for fixing executable stacks and
Ed Avis for various fixes. Thanks to Matt Mahoney for zpaq code. Thanks to Ed Avis for various fixes. Thanks to Matt Mahoney for zpaq code. Thanks to
Jukka Laurila for Darwin support. Thanks to George Makrydakis for lrztar. Jukka Laurila for Darwin support. Thanks to George Makrydakis for lrztar.
Thanks to Ulrich Drepper for his md5 implementation. Thanks to Ulrich Drepper for his md5 implementation. Thanks to Serge Belyshev
for extensive help, advice, and patches to implement encryption.
Con Kolivas <kernel@kolivas.org> Con Kolivas <kernel@kolivas.org>
Mon, 21 Feb 2011 Sat, 19 Mar 2011
Also documented by Also documented by
Peter Hyman <pete@peterhyman.com> Peter Hyman <pete@peterhyman.com>

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@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
lrzip-0.60 update
All files created with lrzip 0.6x are not backward compatible with versions
prior to 0.60. v0.6x can read files generated with earlier versions.
Con Kolivas March 2011.
lrzip-0.50 update lrzip-0.50 update
All files created with lrzip 0.50+ are not backward compatible with versions All files created with lrzip 0.5x are not backward compatible with versions
prior to 0.50. v0.50 can read earlier generated files. prior to 0.50. v0.50 can read earlier generated files.
lrzip-0.41 update lrzip-0.41 update