deflate

deflate [options] [file]

-c, --stdout
    Write output on standard output; keep original files unchanged. It can output to file using shell redirection operators like '>'

-d, --decompress
    Decompress.

-f, --force
    Force overwrite of output file.

-h, --help
    Display this help and exit.

-k, --keep
    Keep (don't delete) input files during compression or decompression.

-l, --license
    Display deflate license.

-v, --verbose
    Verbose output.

-V, --version
    Output version information and exit.

The `deflate` command in Linux is used for compressing data using the DEFLATE algorithm, which is also used by gzip. It's a relatively simple command, often utilized within shell scripts or programs needing basic compression capabilities. While `deflate` offers compression, `gzip` is far more commonly used for file compression directly on the command line because `gzip` adds a header and checksum to the compressed output, making it a complete compressed file. `deflate` is more of a building block for other tools, allowing data streams to be compressed efficiently without file overhead. It's particularly useful when implementing custom data handling pipelines or when compression is required in memory rather than file-based operations.

The resulting output from `deflate` is raw compressed data. Because there's no file header or checksum included, It is generally not suitable for direct file archiving and sharing like gzip archives.

If no file is specified as input, `deflate` reads from standard input (stdin). Similarly, if the `-c` option is used or no output file can be created, the output is written to standard output (stdout).

The exit status is 0 for a successful completion. 1 if an error happened.

gzip(1), zlib(3), zcat(1)