Change compression/container format of Linux pack

[korrode]

I suggest changing the type of compressed file used to hold the Linux data that people download from a ZIP to a GZip compressed Tarball (.tar.gz).

tar.gz's are more reliable to use in scripts (because most any linux system can uncompress them even in a barebones 'base-install' state) and it would retain any unix permissions, so the requirement to chmod the binary would then be deprecated, which will make it a little easier for people to get the game up and running.

 

EDIT:

Also, I made one to test, it came out as almost exactly the same size as the ZIP file.

 

EDIT2:

Listing some library requirements on the download page is probably a good idea too, eg.

 

sdl_net

sdl_image

openal

cal3d

libxml2

libvorbis

libgl

Edited August 16, 2010 by Korrode

[eagleprince]

Seconded.

 

I would however prefer using the bz2 format, since it is a Linux standard, offers the same advantages and generally results in a smaller download.

[korrode]

I would however prefer using the bz2 format, since it is a Linux standard, offers the same advantages and generally results in a smaller download.

The only reason I didn't suggest bz2 is backwards compatibility. I'm not exactly sure when bzip2 inclusion became widespread, so I suggested GZip.

Could put up both... or if the current Debian Stable (5.0, Lenny), being the nice baseline for 'oldest software likely to be in use' it is, supports untar'ing bzip2 compressed files at bare netinst stage, then I completely agree Bzip2 is the go.

[Aislinn]

I would however prefer using the bz2 format, since it is a Linux standard, offers the same advantages and generally results in a smaller download.

The only reason I didn't suggest bz2 is backwards compatibility. I'm not exactly sure when bzip2 inclusion became widespread, so I suggested GZip.

Could put up both... or if the current Debian Stable (5.0, Lenny), being the nice baseline for 'oldest software likely to be in use' it is, supports untar'ing bzip2 compressed files at bare netinst stage, then I completely agree Bzip2 is the go.

Agreed for sure. Both Bzip2 and Gzip came with my core base install of Arch, but for some reason I *think* I remember when I used Puppy Linux bzip2 not preserving file permissions so still they would need to fuss with setting it executable.

[Entropy]

I do the Linux and windows packages from a windows system, so tar.gz won't change anything.

If I had been doing it on Linux, then yes, I would have used tar.gz

[korrode]

I do the Linux and windows packages from a windows system, so tar.gz won't change anything.

If I had been doing it on Linux, then yes, I would have used tar.gz

I'm sure there's many of us that would be happy to provide you with the zip re-packaged as a .tar.gz with the permissions set for the binaries if so desired.