In his post, Russ Cox demonstrates how to create a file that, when unpacked, contains a file identical to itself. This creates an infinite loop of extraction:
: It is the standard format for the source code of the R programming language (e.g., R-4.3.1.tar.gz ) found on CRAN .
: For "die-hard Unix fans," Cox explains r.tar.gz , a gzipped tarball that contains another r.tar.gz inside it.
: It is used to package Linux drivers, such as for Wacom tablets, to ensure they can be compiled and installed across different machines. Zip Files All The Way Down - research!rsc
: Just as a program quine prints its own source code, these files contain their own compressed representation.
R.tar.gz Apr 2026
In his post, Russ Cox demonstrates how to create a file that, when unpacked, contains a file identical to itself. This creates an infinite loop of extraction:
: It is the standard format for the source code of the R programming language (e.g., R-4.3.1.tar.gz ) found on CRAN .
: For "die-hard Unix fans," Cox explains r.tar.gz , a gzipped tarball that contains another r.tar.gz inside it.
: It is used to package Linux drivers, such as for Wacom tablets, to ensure they can be compiled and installed across different machines. Zip Files All The Way Down - research!rsc
: Just as a program quine prints its own source code, these files contain their own compressed representation.