Archiver packages on FreeBSD CD 1

[Erik Trulsson]

On Fri, Dec 19, 2003 at 01:54:00PM +0300, Yar Tikhiy wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> Today I was surprised to find out that the collection of archiver
> packages on FreeBSD 4.9 installation disk 1 was rather strange: It
> consisted of fossil ones like "zoo" and "lha", and of not-so-widely-used
> items like "lzop."  The 600-kilobyte "fileroller" is questionable,
> too, though I suspect it's included because of Gnome.  In fact, I
> was looking for "unrar" and failed to find it there.  Perhaps I'm
> missing some important point, but I've been sure that packages on
> disk 1 should be _really_ demanded ones.  Among archivers, I'd vote
> for "unarj," "unrar," and "unzip" (the latter is the only one already
> supplied.)  Is it time to review the disk 1 archiver package
> collection with respect to people's modern needs?

Which archivers are considered important is quite individual.
I think I have needed "unarj" only once or twice over the last couple
of years (and that was for some ancient archive), and I have never had
any need for "unrar" - I don't think I have ever even seen an archive
that needed "unrar" to unpack.
On the other hand I use "lha" on a fairly regular basis, so I don't
consider that to be a 'fossil'.
In other words I would consider "unarj" and "unrar" to be ancient
and/or weird archivers, while I would consider "lha" to be a standard
archiver just like "unzip".  Your experience/opinion is obviously
different.
The "modern needs" of people can vary quite widely.


-- 
<Insert your favourite quote here.>
Erik Trulsson
ertr1013 at student.uu.se