gzip (GNU zip) is a popular data compression program written by Jean-loup Gailly <gzip@gnu.org> for the GNU project. Mark Adler <madler@alumni.caltech.edu> wrote the decompression part.
We developed this program as a replacement for compress because of the Unisys and IBM patents covering the LZW algorithm used by compress. These patents made it impossible for us to use compress, and we needed a replacement. The superior compression ratio of gzip is just a bonus.
gzip can be found on http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gzip/ [via http] and ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/gzip/ [via FTP]. It can also be found on one of our FTP mirrors.
Test versions of gzip can be found on ftp://alpha.gnu.org/gnu/gzip/ [via FTP]. The latest bleeding-edge version of the source code, along with a revision history, can be found in the gzip Savannah repository.
A manual is available in several formats. You may also find more information about gzip by looking at your local documentation. For example, you might try info gzip or man gzip at the shell prompt.
To subscribe to any GNU mailing list, please send an empty mail with a Subject: header line of just "subscribe" to the relevant -request list. For example, to subscribe yourself to the bug list, you would send mail to <bug-gzip-request@gnu.org> with no body and a Subject: header line of just "subscribe".
The main gzip mailing list <bug-gzip@gnu.org>. is used for bug reports and for all other aspects of gzip, including development and porting. Announcements about gzip and most other GNU Software are also made on <info-gnu@gnu.org>.
If you would like any new feature to be included in future versions of gzip, please send a request to <bug-gzip@gnu.org>.
Please remember that development of gzip is a volunteer effort, and you can also contribute to its development. For information about contributing to the GNU Project, please read How to help GNU.
If you think you have found a bug in gzip, then you should send as complete a report as possible to <bug-gzip@gnu.org>.
gzip is currently being maintained by Paul Eggert <eggert@gnu.org>.