[tex-live] TeX Live on usb drive

[Philip TAYLOR (Ret'd)]

George N. White III wrote:

> I think some zip implementations will store files in "raw" form if the
> compressed version isn't smaller.    In any case, the real issue is to
> find a reliable way for users to get a complete copy, and for many of
> us, the usual mirroring by individual files is not straightforward.   Maybe
> and on-the-fly tar (e.g., without compression) would be better.

If TARring is significantly faster than ZIPping,
then yes, I can see this as an option.  But there
is the very real problem that "TAR" is an unknown
format to most Windows users (it originates from
the Unix world, and is still far more prevalent
there than anywhere else), whilst ZIP files are
(almost) universally understood.  So if the overheads
of ZIPping (compared to TARring) are small, I still
think that on-the-fly ZIPping has much to offer.

** Phil.