5 ms·
Curious.. what's wrong with RAR files?
by pgsuckz 12y ago
Curious.. what's wrong with RAR files?
- acdha 12y agoRAR isn't an open format and it requires using a different tool with a clunky UI. It's not the end of the world but it's a hassle for very limited file size benefit – Microsoft appears to have gotten in the habit of this back in the day where you needed to create self-extracting archives for people running a version of Windows without integrated ZIP support but now it's a complete anachronism.
- sliverstorm 12y agoI thought 7z supports RAR now?
- iancarroll 12y agoSetting up that thing is a pain... Definitely could use some work regarding file associations (maybe I'm just doing it wrong). Putting it into a ZIP allows native support on pretty much every platform.
- molant 12y agoThe rar files we have at modern.ie are selfextracting. Just follow the instructions and you shouldn't need to install any other tool :)
- acdha 12y agoThat's often but not always true: if you use VMWare on Linux or use an OS which is configured not to run arbitrary executables you can't use the self-extracting file. I certainly wouldn't say those are common problems or insurmountable but they're in the class of things which you simply don't need to worry about with ZIP.
- seanp2k2 12y agoWhat's wrong with .tar.gz like most other *nix software uses for downloads?
- moreati 12y agoI've always wondered if there's a story behind modern.ie using chunked .rars over e.g. non-chunked .zip. What were the technical/human constraints that lead to that solution? Was the team agonising over conflicting goals? Or was it as simple as "Alice already knew it"/"Our tool chain already supported it"?