lrunzip

View documentation for the original command

$ tldr lrzip

lrunzip input_file [output_file]

lrunzip is a highly specialized utility designed for decompressing files that have been compressed using the Lempel-Ziv-Ross (LZR) algorithm. It is crucial to understand that this command is not a general-purpose tool for handling common .zip archives created by utilities like zip or unzip, nor is it for .gz files. Its primary use case is within contexts involving embedded systems, firmware development, or specific hardware where data is compressed with LZR for storage or transmission efficiency. The command takes a single LZR-compressed file as input and decompresses its contents, typically writing the output to a specified file or standard output. Its availability and functionality are often tied to specific vendor toolchains rather than being a standard component of general Linux distributions.

Not for Standard ZIP Files: lrunzip exclusively handles LZR-compressed data and will not work with standard .zip archives or other common compression formats like .gz or .bz2.

Niche Utility: This command is highly specialized and often found as part of specific firmware development toolchains. It is typically not pre-installed on general-purpose Linux distributions.

Limited Interface: Most implementations of lrunzip are very simple, accepting only input and optional output filenames without a wide range of command-line options or flags.

The Lempel-Ziv-Ross (LZR) algorithm is a variant of the Lempel-Ziv family of data compression algorithms. While related in principle to algorithms used in ZIP or GZIP, LZR has specific characteristics that necessitate a dedicated decompression utility like lrunzip. It is optimized for certain data types or hardware constraints found in embedded systems.

Users are most likely to encounter lrunzip when working with custom firmware, device drivers, or bootloader images for specific networking equipment (e.g., routers) or other embedded devices. It is used to extract uncompressed data from firmware binaries that incorporate LZR compression.

The history of lrunzip is not widely documented as a standalone command. It is typically developed as part of proprietary or open-source toolchains for specific hardware platforms that utilize the LZR compression algorithm, often for bootloaders or firmware images. Its development is generally tied to the needs of these specific embedded system environments rather than evolving as a general-purpose compression utility.

unzip(1), gunzip(1)