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Is 7zip really a good format for sharing data? I also use the program for unpacking and I like the context menu integration. However when I send files, I prefer zip because I feel like this is easiest for the recipient to open (no matter if they are using windows, linux, osx, Android...).

discuss

CamperBob2|5 years ago

No, IMO. Nobody cares about saving "2-10%" if it means risking a hassle at the customer/user site due to a nonstandard format. If they do care that much about a minuscule incremental win, they probably shouldn't.

See the endless flame wars between DjVu advocates and .PDF die-hards for another example. Stick with the standard unless the improvement being offered by the newcomer is drop-dead amazing.

joshspankit|5 years ago

Yes, with one caveat: There are times where you need to send a zip file to someone who does not or cannot install additional tools. I. this case, 7z can cause a “I don’t know what this file is and can’t open it” reply. Of course you can always counter that with “Here’s a zip instead”

ilyagr|5 years ago

I just had to decompress a 7z file on linux. It is really confusing -- there is no 7unzip command. A random third-party tool decompressed the archive incorrectly. The official p7zip package consists of three or more different command-line tools that are meant to handle any operation you could imagine, with different and weird options. Slogging through them takes quite a bit of manpage reading, and there are hidden gotchas. For example, the "simple interface", p7zip, is optimized for .tar.7z files, and deletes the original archive when decompressing. It is supposed to only do it only if there's one file in the archive, but it happened for me regardless.

The correct command is '7z x <file>'.

It's quite a contrast from the good experience I had with 7zip on Windows.

orev|5 years ago

7zip is an amazing decompression tool that can handle many formats. You can even use it to extract installer exe files for otherwise difficult situations (like where a firmware blob is only available in a Windows exe download). It’s also free and hassle free. When sending to other people though, it can create zip format.

n4r9|5 years ago

I use 7zip the app for all (de)compression tasks, and use the format itself when the recipient is tech savvy.

wayneftw|5 years ago

You can change the context menu to default to `.zip` instead of `.7z`.