[TriLUG] Availability of bzip2 in 20 years?

[Jason Tower]

bzip is much slower than gzip, a lot less widespread, and doesn't yield 
substantially better compression ratios on the vast majority of data.  so 
why bother?

Steve Litt wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm considering backing up to bzip2 instead of gzip (.tgz) to pack more on a 
> single DVD. I'm getting close to 2 full DVDs, and I'd hate for my backups to 
> span 3.
> 
> So in other words, 
> 
> tar cjvf mybup.tar.bz2 mydir
> 
> instead of 
> 
> tar czvf mybup.tgz mydir
> 
> My question is this: 20 years from now, will it be trivially easy to find 
> software to decode bzip2. I'm sure it will be trivially easy to decode 
> gzipped tars -- that's been a standard for years and years. Is bzip2 here to 
> stay, or will it be dropped as years go by?
> 
> I'm serious about this. I often look at computer programs I wrote in 1984. I 
> still regularly use Micrografx Windows Draw drawings I made in 1992 (this 
> remains my one major reason for keeping a Windows machine around). Will 
> tar.bz2 be decodable in 20 years?
> 
> Thanks
> 
> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt
> Author: 
>    * Universal Troubleshooting Process courseware
>    * Troubleshooting Techniques of the Successful Technologist
>    * Manager's Guide to Technical Troubleshooting
>    * Twenty Eight Tales of Troubleshooting
>    * Rapid Learning: Secret Weapon of the Successful Technologist
> 
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/bookstore
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/utp/tcourses.htm