I don't understand the use of TAR. My understanding is it pulls together many files into one file. But doesn't putting files in a folder do this?
Using ZIP, I put files I want to archive in a folder and then compress the folder.
Do I also get an archive if I put files I want to archive in a folder and then compress with Bzip2?
Best Answer
tar lives up to its name "Tape ARchiver". It takes a directory tree, and writes it out to a single file (which could be a tape drive), preserving the directory structure and metadata.
So, yes, very similar to zip, although without built-in compression, and with a full understanding of unix metadata.
The unix philosophy is that each tool should do one thing, and do it well. Tar can archive a directory, and the you can compress the archive with a compression tool like
gzip
,bzip2
, orxz
.