What is a .RZ file?
An .RZ file is a type of compressed file, which means it's a file that has been made smaller using a special program. This kind of file is created by a program called rzip, which is used on Unix computers. Unix is a type of operating system, like Windows or macOS, but it's often used by computer professionals or in servers.
The way rzip makes files smaller is pretty smart. First, it looks through the file for any big parts that are repeated over and over again. It takes these parts and writes them down just once. Then, it uses another program called bzip2 to make the file even smaller. This is really useful because it means that big files, especially ones that have lots of repeating information, can be made much smaller. This saves space on your computer and makes it easier and faster to send these files over the internet.
For example, imagine you have a really long report that includes the same big picture many times. If you use rzip to compress this report, it will find all the copies of that picture, keep just one, and then make the whole file smaller. This is great because it means the file takes up less room on your computer, and if you need to email it to someone, it will upload and download much quicker.
The files that rzip creates end with ".RZ". This is just like how Word documents end with ".docx" or music files might end with ".mp3". It's a way of telling you and your computer what kind of file it is and what program can open it. Even though rzip usually saves files with ".RZ" at the end, you can actually choose a different ending if you want, by using a special command when you compress the file.
To open an .RZ file, you need to use rzip again. This program knows how to look at the compressed file, figure out how it was made smaller, and then make it big again so you can see the original file just like it was before it was compressed.
The person who made rzip is named Andrew Tridgell. He designed rzip to be really good at compressing very large files that have lots of repeating data. This is super helpful for people who work with big files and need a way to make them easier to handle and share.
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