file format ("Tape ARchive", following
ar)
Unix's
general purpose
archive utility and the file format it uses.
it is now used more often for packaging files together on
other media, e.g. for distribution via the
Internet.
The resulting archive, a "tar file" (humourously, "tarball")
is often compressed, using
gzip or some other form of
There is a
GNU version of tar called
gnutar with several
improvements over the standard versions.
MIME type: unregistered, but commonly application/x-tar
(1998-05-02)