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Do you use 7-Zip files?

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zridling:
f0dder speak; I listen.

I'd rather use 7z than zip any day, but it remains a second-choice format behind RAR. RAR has proven its reliability over many years. It's not sexy, but it works.

Hirudin:
I've tried 7z a couple times, but for one reason or another, I very quickly give up on it.

I'm not a big archiver... I download a lot of zips, and create RARs on occasion. WinRAR's context menu options have always been exactly what I need, have always worked, and are always there when I need them. I think this alone has made me stick with WinRAR since I first discovered it and ditch everything since. Also, the dual progress bar when you're raring/unraring is pretty fun to watch...

What can I say, I'm easy to please!

I'm now a paying customer so it'll take a whole lot to make me go with anything else.

Nudel:
7-zip isn't half bad, and it's speed has improved a lot during the years. But while it's opensource, I dare you to actually do something with it - the LZMA SDK is one big pile of ugly spaghetti code, as I'm sure most people who's worked with it can attest. Dunno how portable it even is, without a lot of glue code...-f0dder (April 25, 2007, 05:08 PM)
--- End quote ---
At least it has an SDK, unlike RAR. :) The 7Zip SDK I was looking at looked very similar, almost identical in fact, to unrar for decompression. Might have been a higher-level wrapper around LZMA though (in fact, it must have been).

I almost only use Zip myself. It works well enough and it works in everything. The advantages of using another format don't seem enough to outweigh the hassle factor.

Hassle aside, I'm against using RAR to store data as I don't like the idea of storing data in a closed, undocumented format that people can't even licence a compressor for.

f0dder:
RAR is by no means closed and undocumented. Yes, there isn't any compressor source available and you're not allowed to write one, but the format is documented and has portable decompression source available - that's good enough that you won't end up with archives you can't decompress.

You found an easy-to-use SDK? http://www.7-zip.org/sdk.html - that one certainly isn't, at least not if you just want to, say, use the LZMA code for generic de/compression. Tangled mess. Too bad, really, sinze .7z is a decent enough format.

The LZMA SDK has a pretty nice license, btw - basically "LGPL made sane by adding exceptions."

Darwin:
Two points... First the second one  :): I use zip ONLY because I tend to be archiving things to send to other people via e-mail. Occasionally, I use Rar to create an SFX file but that adds to the PIA factor because I then have to explain to the recipient not only that they have to change the extension in order to open the file but also that they need to run an exe file to get to the actual file that I am sending. Every so often this is too much for people.

My first point is that the poll has two choices which, to my mind are identical: NO and NEVER... Unfortunately, I can't remove my vote to check how the poll was originally worded - was a distinction made? I can't remember  :-[

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