Both Linux and UNIX include various commands for Compressing and decompresses (read as expand compressed file). To compress files you can use gzip, bzip2 and zip commands. To expand compressed file (decompresses) you can use and gzip -d, bunzip2 (bzip2 -d), unzip commands.
You can compress Linux files with the open-source compression tool Gzip or with Zip, which is recognized by most operating systems. By convention, compressed files are given the extension . gz. The command Gzip creates a compressed file ending with .
Zip
The zip command creates a compressed file while leaving the original file intact. The syntax is straightforward except that, as with tar gzip
The gzip command is very simple to use. You just type "gzip" followed by the name of the file you want to compress. Unlike the commands described above bzip2
As with the gzip command, bzip2will compress the file that you select "in place", leaving only the original file Xz
A relative newcomer to the compression command team, xzis a front runner in terms of how well it compresses files Comparisons to Consider
Most people have heard it said that "size isn't everything". So Decompressing Files
The commands for decompressing files are similar to those used to compress the files Running Your Own Compression Comparisons
If you'd like to run some tests on your own
Widely used Linux filesystem format
Linux has several filesystem drivers for the File Allocation Table (FAT) filesystem format.
These are commonly known by the names used in the mount command to invoke particular drivers in the kernel: msdos, vfat, and umsdos.