Re: bzip2 -- no longer non-us?

[Noel Maddy <ncm@biostat.hfh.edu>]

> http://www.muraroa.demon.co.uk  has a new version of bzip (a
> compressor that is stronger than gzip) -- the old one (0.21) was in
> non-us because it used arithmetic coding which was pattented in the
> us; the new one, called bzip2, is:
> 
>    o Patent-free!  (I hope).  bzip-0.21 used arithmetic coding; bzip2 uses
>      Huffman coding, which is generally regarded as non-problematic from a
>      patent standpoint.  Both programs are based on the Burrows-Wheeler
>      transform, but, as far as I know, that's not patented either.
> 
> and a few other cool things.
> 
> This could be potntially useful in boot kits in particular...

Especially since it seems to compress better, at least for text (I 
haven't tried binaries yet).  A couple of examples that I have tried:

	mail.tar (a bunch of old mail folders)

	Uncompressed	4 014 080
	gzip -9		1 190 712
	bzip2 -5	  943 674
	bzip2 -9	  916 924

	linux-2.1.48.tar

	gzip		8 446 528
	bzip2 -9	6 863 854

-- 
"Some Internet functionality may require Internet access..."
                                      - Microsoft Office 97 requirements
Noel Maddy <nmaddy1@biostat.hfh.edu>



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