Using other compression algos with GnuPG

[David Shaw]

On Fri, Jan 20, 2006 at 04:49:11PM -0600, Ryan Malayter wrote:
> On 1/20/06, David Shaw <dshaw at jabberwocky.com> wrote:
> > It's always possible for someone to add a nonstandard algorithm, but
> > if you really want a particular algorithm, it's healthier to get the
> > OpenPGP working group to add it officially.
> 
> The RAR compression algorithm proprietary and closed source, so it is
> not likely to make it into any standards. RARlabs has refused for
> years to allow anyone else to make RAR encoders (although they exist
> in violation of the RARlabs license).
> 
> See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAR
> 
> A much better choice would be the LZMA algorithm from 7zip, which is
> open-source and unpatented. It compresses with similar efficiency and
> speed to RAR.
> 
> In any case, though, such slow-but-compact algorithms are really only
> useful for archival purposes. While I have used PGP for some
> archiving, this is not the most common usage of PGP, and probably not
> an OpenPGP design goal.

In fact, BZIP2 was added pretty much for archival purposes:
http://www.imc.org/ietf-openpgp/mail-archive/msg04624.html

I wouldn't be against LZMA if it was significantly better than BZIP2.

David