TAR

Overview

TAR concatenates files into one stream while preserving directory structure, permissions, and timestamps. It does not compress by itself, so it is usually combined with gzip or another compressor as tar.gz.

Typical use cases

• Unix archives
• Preserving permissions
• Software source bundles
• Backup streams

Advantages

• Designed for unix archives
• None storage
• Open specification
• Browser support: Native on Unix-like systems; third-party elsewhere

Disadvantages

• No compression on its own
• Usually combined with gzip
• Large files need streaming tools

How to open or use it

Open TAR files with an application that supports application/x-tar. Create and edit with Unix archive tools. For delivery, use a viewer or converter that reads tar.