catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  gzip
       
           GNU compression utility.  Gzip reduces
          the size of the named files using Lempel-Ziv LZ77
          compression.  Whenever possible, each file is replaced by one
          with the filename extension ".gz".  Compressed files can be
          restored to their original form using gzip -d or gunzip or
          zcat.
       
          The Unix "{compress" utility is patented (by two separate
          patents, in fact) and is thus shunned by the GNU Project since
          it is not free software.  They have therefore chosen gzip,
          which is free of any known software patents and which tends
          to compress better anyway.  All compressed files in the GNU
          anonymous FTP area (gnu.org/pub/gnu) are in gzip
          format and their names end in ".gz" (as opposed to
          "compress"-compressed files, which end in ".Z").
       
          Gzip can uncompress "compress"-compressed files and "pack"
          files (which end in ".z").  The decompression algorithms are
          not patented, only compression is.
       
          The gzip program is available from any GNU archive site in
          shar, tar, or gzipped tar format (for those who already
          have a prior version of gzip and want faster data
          transmission).  It works on virtually every Unix system,
          MS-DOS, OS/2 and VMS.
       
       

  gzip
     vb.
     (lb en transitive computing) To compress using the (w: gzip)
  program.

  gzip
     vb.
     (lb en transitive computing) To compress using the (w: gzip)
  program.

  gzip
     vb.
     (lb en transitive computing) To compress using the (w: gzip)
  program.

  gzip
     vb.
     (lb en transitive computing) To compress using the (w: gzip)
  program.