Re: some statistics on using bz2 for packages

[Bdale Garbee <bdale@gag.com>]

In article <[🔎] 19991030233207.I5999@lappy.djj.state.va.us> you wrote:

> (I don't see why bzip2 can't be essential anyway, since tar already 
> requires it for some functionality).

The only time tar cares about bzip2 at all is if you want to use the -I option
to handle a .tar.bz2 by exec'ing bzip2 in a pipe.  This hardly qualifies as
a reason to make bzip2 essential!

My understanding is that the bzip2 algorithm will get folded into gzip at
some point, so I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

I see no reason for more than one compression engine to be flagged essential.
While bzip2 is neat stuff, gzip is far more widely applicable in the community
right now, so I'd vote to leave things as they are.

Bdale