Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!caen!uflorida!ziggy!screamer!tscs!tct!chip
From: chip@tct.uucp (Chip Salzenberg)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.questions
Subject: Re: Backups using compress
Message-ID: <27551FBF.2222@tct.uucp>
Date: 29 Nov 90 14:48:30 GMT
References: <25106@adm.brl.mil> <14582@smoke.brl.mil>
Organization: Teltronics/TCT, Sarasota, FL
Lines: 13

According to gwyn@smoke.brl.mil (Doug Gwyn):
>What most people do is to compress the archive, not the individual
>files; that also should generally be more compact.
>In this method you can simply pipe the archive through "compress".

I would think twice before using this method for backups.  LZW
compression (i.e. /usr/bin/compress), like most kinds of compression,
is _extremely_ unforgiving of trashed data.  If you lose ONE BYTE, the
rest of the archive will probably be lost permanently.
-- 
Chip Salzenberg at Teltronics/TCT     <chip@tct.uucp>, <uunet!pdn!tct!chip>
    "I've been cranky ever since my comp.unix.wizards was removed
         by that evil Chip Salzenberg."   -- John F. Haugh II