Talk:ZIP (file format)

Is ZIP the acronym for something ? Because I don't see a meaning of "compression" for any dictionary meanings for "zip". Jay 19:35, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

No, it's not an acronym; it is meant to conjure up images of the software zipping along at a high rate of speed and finishing its job quickly. In the 1980s, it was common for software to be named in a way that indicated how fast it was. This is unusual today, since on modern hardware even very inefficient software operates, as far as the end user is concerned, instantaneously, but in the 1980s, people would pay extra money for software that was 20% faster. I know of at least four different programs available in the 80s that were named "Zip". (Besides PKZip, the next most well-known is probably Mark Howell's Zip, a predecessor of Frotz.) However, as far as I'm aware, PKZip was the only one that had anything to do with compression, until gzip came around, and by then the verb "zip", meaning "compress", was already in common use, almost certainly as a direct result of the popularity of PKZip. --Jonadab, 2005 May 28

You don't? How about "zipping something up" as in packaging something? Mrdice 19:36, 2004 Feb 26 (UTC)

That usage derives from PKZip, not the other way around. --Jonadab, 2005 May

When you say "zipping something up" you're talking of computer files and folders. Tell me another object that you can zip as in package. I couldn't find any non-computer usage of zip as "package/compress" from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=zip Jay 19:55, 26 Feb 2004 (UTC)

When Phil Katz designed his new replacement program for PKARC, his friend and confederate Bob Mahoney (founder of the EXEC-PC BBS in Wisconsin, where Katz lived) suggested naming it "Zip" for two reasons (according to a phone conversation I had with him in spring of 2004): The name "zip" would imply "speed", which would be an advantage over the ARC and other compression formats, and "zip" implied "zipper", giving a slight tinge of sexiness to the whole thing, as in "zipping up" and "unzipping". Katz went with this idea, and thanks Bob Mahoney for coming up with the name in the README file for basically all versions of PKZIP. --Jscott 18:35, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Is there any README file on the net which has mention of Bob Mahoney ? Jay 11:18, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I looked in a couple of PKZIP distributions (1.02 and 2.04g) and couldn't find any mention of Bob Mahoney. --Zundark 16:14, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

It is in APPNOTE.TXT. The following is copy-and-pasted from the 2.04g version of that file:

In addition to the above mentioned contributors to PKZIP and PKUNZIP, I would like to extend special thanks to Robert Mahoney for suggesting the extension .ZIP for this software. --User:Jonadab

That's strange - my copy of PKZIP 2.04g has no APPNOTE.TXT. But I found an updated version of the file on PKWARE's site (http://www.pkware.com/company/standards/appnote/appnote.txt), which contains the same acknowledgement. --Zundark 12:57, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

--

"The ZIP file format was originally created by Phil Katz, founder of PKWARE."

This sentence has an external link to PKWARE in it. I find that a very bad idea, as external links, I think, are best left to the external link section at the end unless there is an extraordinary reason not to do so. Perhaps link to PKWARE article in wikipedia instead? --ShaunMacPherson 04:28, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

I've done it, but you should Wikipedia:be bold in future :) Dysprosia 04:30, 17 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Contents

1 Rename to PKZip? 2 Encryption? 3 NPOV 4 Bad link? 5 compression methods other than deflate

Rename to PKZip?

Should this article be at PKZip file format—or, bettter still IMO, merged with PKZIP—to distinguish it from other Zip compression formats? --Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley _{talk contrib} 01:34, 2005 Feb 10 (UTC)

Merging with PKZIP probably isn't a good idea, as the format is no longer closely tied to the program that first used it. Moving the article to PKZIP file format would go against the principle of using the most common name as the article title - most people just say "zip file" now, not "PKZIP file". What are the other "Zip compression formats" that you want to distinguish it from? --Zundark 09:19, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Encryption?

I know the .ZIP format can implement password protection. When a .ZIP file is made with the password option, what encryption algorithm, if any, is used? --69.234.192.40 08:41, 23 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I know that it is a symetric, private-key algorithm, and that cryptanalists generally don't regard it as highly secure, but I do not know the specifics --User:Jonadab

NPOV

The section of this article referring to the 'public perception' of Katz after he developed PKZIP, specifically how he was viewed as the victor in a war against an 'evil corporation', is biased. Can citations be given for this generic public perception assertion? Probably not. If so, they should be listed.

Bad link?

I think this sentence and the embedded link within it should be changed: "WinZIP was among the most popular." to: "WinZip was among the most popular". since the WinZIP version goes to a "start this page" rather than the real article for WinZip. I did it but I've never actually modified a Wiki article, no guts, so no idea if I did it right... --User:Lar (Larry Pieniazek)

compression methods other than deflate

anyone know where i can find more info on the other compression methods zip supports? Plugwash 00:29, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

The three original PKZIP compression methods were "imploding", "shrinking" and "reducing". Details of all the compression methods can be found in appnote.txt (http://www.pkware.com/company/standards/appnote/appnote.txt). --Zundark 07:28, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)

ok i didn't spot those the first time i read through that document, they still seem very vague though when compared to say the deflate rfc. Plugwash 13:43, 18 Jun 2005 (UTC)