Software distributed in Rar

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Download the file
2. Try to uncompress it

Rar has been overshadowed by zip and tgz for comming on 10 years, there's
no reason to distribute in such an archaic format.  Zip is now built into
operating systems for nearly 5 years.  Distribute in it!  I should not need
to use licensed algorithms to do something which has been done for free for
a decade!

Original issue reported on code.google.com by conrad.a...@gmail.com on 3 Oct 2008 at 7:50

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Go To Hell!
You are not happy with the service, fine, just go search somewhere else.

I am not trying to sell anything! I won't adapt to your whims otherwise it will 
be a
never ending mess with everyone around with different choices. You don't like 
Rar,
fine, download the source and compile.

And final point, ZIP is proprietary as much as Rar and the windows Zip 
implementation
simply sux...  so your point about licensed algorithms is down the drain.
As for tgz do you really think that on windows someone would be using that 
format ?
And since the application is made on windows for windows for a game running on
windows you really thought that TGZ would be a good idea?

As I said, you are not happy with the format, I don't give a shit! Cya!

Original comment by ChryzoPh...@gmail.com on 4 Oct 2008 at 9:26

• Changed state: Invalid

[GoogleCodeExporter]

While one could argue that your "this is free, take it or leave" argument is 
valid
and I'm happy to leave the request as "invalid", would you mind humoring me and
pointing me in the direction of any documentation regarding the proprietary 
nature of
ZIP?  Wikipeida states that Katz publicly released the ZIP format in 1989, and 
the
DEFLATE algorithm used by it is accepted as "patent free" and inforporated into 
RFC
1951 and I'd love to correct both pages if such information is false.

I listed tgz because it is still very commonly used in unix development, and 
wished
to cover my bases.  If Windows is the only platform of consideration, then zip 
is the
de-facto standard other than the self extracting archive formats (within which
install shield, nullsoft's installer, and MSI tend to battle for market share). 
 All
internet statistics are made up on the spot, but I'd still feel confident 
saying that
ZIP has 98% or more of the market share if you exclude self extracting archives.

You did save 12% (432k) of google's bandiwdth by the choice of Rar, though I 
had to
download a multiple megabyte unraring program to open it, taking care to pick 
one
which isn't addware or nagware.

Original comment by conrad.a...@gmail.com on 8 Oct 2008 at 9:48

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Without commenting on the matter at hand, because personally I couldn't care 
less in 
which format you get stuff, I do not like the way you're "suggesting" this. In 
this 
case, you are calling the author an idiot, and stating false facts.

Again, I don't give a rat's ass about what format you prefer, but just because 
you 
want to throw it on facts, I'll give you some back in your face.

1. How is RAR "archaic" and "overshadowed" by ZIP, when RAR had UTF-8 support 
before 
ZIP (ZIP got it Sept. 2007), has much better encryption than other formats, and 
can 
properly handle split files? Exactly, it isn't. It's slightly slower than the 
rest, 
and there's very little true freeware software for it, but it's not archaic; 
seems to 
me you don't know the meaning of the word.

2. Why does it matter that ZIP has been a standard for 19 years? Exactly, it 
doesn't. 
It also means the format hasn't changed in 19 years, even though technology has 
made 
giant leaps in 19 years time. RAR proves that there is room for improvement in 
the 
ZIP format.

3. You were forced to download a new piece of software to unpack the archives? 
Stop 
bullshitting me, if you really are so into having 1 program support all 
formats, 
you'd be using one of the many programs that do support RAR unpacking; 7z being 
one 
of them.

4. ZIP has 98% of the market share? Yeah, under users who don't do much more 
than 
some office work on their PC. Look at Usenet for 2 seconds, everything you find 
will 
be in RAR (because RAR, as said above, can handle split archives properly). 
Most 
gamers also use RAR for their own personal things. So no, your 98% market share 
only 
goes within a certain usergroup.

In the end it comes down to this: You're stuck in the past, where there was 
only one 
format on the market for everything. Well, guess what mate: there's more! Are 
you 
going to tell me you prefer WAV over MP3 as well now, because WAV has been 
around for 
longer?

Less false facts, and more maturity and manners please. Next time you make a 
suggestion, you do EXACTLY THAT: make a suggestion. You don't insult authors, 
and you 
don't try to prove your point with false facts, when you clearly do not have a 
clue 
what you are talking about.

Original comment by paulwere...@gmail.com on 9 Oct 2008 at 7:51