prezip-bin

prezip-bin [options] input_file output_file

input_file
    The path to the binary file to be processed.

output_file
    The path to the output file where the processed binary data will be written.

The prezip-bin command is a utility designed to optimize binary files before compression, typically using gzip or similar algorithms. It identifies sequences of repeated bytes (especially null bytes, which are common in uninitialized or sparsely populated binary files like executables or data files) and replaces them with special marker sequences. This process significantly reduces the file's entropy, thereby improving the compression ratio achieved by subsequent compression tools.
Prezip-bin is most effective on files containing large stretches of identical bytes and is generally intended to be used as a pre-processing step before other compression methods. It is primarily useful for reducing the size of large, mostly-empty binary files, resulting in smaller archives and faster transmission/storage.

Prezip-bin modifies the input file's contents. The file must be de-prezipped before use. A corresponding de-prezip tool (often called 'unprezip-bin' or similar) is required to reverse the process. Using the prezipped binary directly without de-prezipping it will lead to unpredictable and erroneous behavior.
The effectiveness of prezip-bin depends heavily on the nature of the input file. It is most beneficial for sparse files. Using it on already well-compressed or highly random data may increase the file size.

After using prezip-bin, the resulting file MUST be processed with the appropriate decompression utility (e.g., 'unprezip-bin') to restore it to its original state before being used. This ensures that the binary data is in the correct format for execution or interpretation.

gzip(1), bzip2(1), xz(1)