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-
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+============================
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XZ data compression in Linux
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============================
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Introduction
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+============
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- XZ is a general purpose data compression format with high compression
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- ratio and relatively fast decompression. The primary compression
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- algorithm (filter) is LZMA2. Additional filters can be used to improve
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- compression ratio even further. E.g. Branch/Call/Jump (BCJ) filters
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- improve compression ratio of executable data.
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+XZ is a general purpose data compression format with high compression
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+ratio and relatively fast decompression. The primary compression
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+algorithm (filter) is LZMA2. Additional filters can be used to improve
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+compression ratio even further. E.g. Branch/Call/Jump (BCJ) filters
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+improve compression ratio of executable data.
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- The XZ decompressor in Linux is called XZ Embedded. It supports
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- the LZMA2 filter and optionally also BCJ filters. CRC32 is supported
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- for integrity checking. The home page of XZ Embedded is at
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- <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html>, where you can find the
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- latest version and also information about using the code outside
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- the Linux kernel.
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+The XZ decompressor in Linux is called XZ Embedded. It supports
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+the LZMA2 filter and optionally also BCJ filters. CRC32 is supported
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+for integrity checking. The home page of XZ Embedded is at
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+<http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html>, where you can find the
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+latest version and also information about using the code outside
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+the Linux kernel.
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- For userspace, XZ Utils provide a zlib-like compression library
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- and a gzip-like command line tool. XZ Utils can be downloaded from
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- <http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
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+For userspace, XZ Utils provide a zlib-like compression library
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+and a gzip-like command line tool. XZ Utils can be downloaded from
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+<http://tukaani.org/xz/>.
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XZ related components in the kernel
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-
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- The xz_dec module provides XZ decompressor with single-call (buffer
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- to buffer) and multi-call (stateful) APIs. The usage of the xz_dec
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- module is documented in include/linux/xz.h.
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-
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- The xz_dec_test module is for testing xz_dec. xz_dec_test is not
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- useful unless you are hacking the XZ decompressor. xz_dec_test
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- allocates a char device major dynamically to which one can write
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- .xz files from userspace. The decompressed output is thrown away.
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- Keep an eye on dmesg to see diagnostics printed by xz_dec_test.
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- See the xz_dec_test source code for the details.
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-
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- For decompressing the kernel image, initramfs, and initrd, there
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- is a wrapper function in lib/decompress_unxz.c. Its API is the
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- same as in other decompress_*.c files, which is defined in
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- include/linux/decompress/generic.h.
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-
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- scripts/xz_wrap.sh is a wrapper for the xz command line tool found
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- from XZ Utils. The wrapper sets compression options to values suitable
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- for compressing the kernel image.
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-
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- For kernel makefiles, two commands are provided for use with
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- $(call if_needed). The kernel image should be compressed with
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- $(call if_needed,xzkern) which will use a BCJ filter and a big LZMA2
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- dictionary. It will also append a four-byte trailer containing the
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- uncompressed size of the file, which is needed by the boot code.
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- Other things should be compressed with $(call if_needed,xzmisc)
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- which will use no BCJ filter and 1 MiB LZMA2 dictionary.
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+===================================
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+
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+The xz_dec module provides XZ decompressor with single-call (buffer
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+to buffer) and multi-call (stateful) APIs. The usage of the xz_dec
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+module is documented in include/linux/xz.h.
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+
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+The xz_dec_test module is for testing xz_dec. xz_dec_test is not
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+useful unless you are hacking the XZ decompressor. xz_dec_test
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+allocates a char device major dynamically to which one can write
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+.xz files from userspace. The decompressed output is thrown away.
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+Keep an eye on dmesg to see diagnostics printed by xz_dec_test.
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+See the xz_dec_test source code for the details.
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+
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+For decompressing the kernel image, initramfs, and initrd, there
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+is a wrapper function in lib/decompress_unxz.c. Its API is the
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+same as in other decompress_*.c files, which is defined in
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+include/linux/decompress/generic.h.
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+
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+scripts/xz_wrap.sh is a wrapper for the xz command line tool found
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+from XZ Utils. The wrapper sets compression options to values suitable
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+for compressing the kernel image.
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+
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+For kernel makefiles, two commands are provided for use with
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+$(call if_needed). The kernel image should be compressed with
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+$(call if_needed,xzkern) which will use a BCJ filter and a big LZMA2
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+dictionary. It will also append a four-byte trailer containing the
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+uncompressed size of the file, which is needed by the boot code.
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+Other things should be compressed with $(call if_needed,xzmisc)
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+which will use no BCJ filter and 1 MiB LZMA2 dictionary.
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Notes on compression options
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+============================
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- Since the XZ Embedded supports only streams with no integrity check or
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- CRC32, make sure that you don't use some other integrity check type
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- when encoding files that are supposed to be decoded by the kernel. With
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- liblzma, you need to use either LZMA_CHECK_NONE or LZMA_CHECK_CRC32
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- when encoding. With the xz command line tool, use --check=none or
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- --check=crc32.
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-
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- Using CRC32 is strongly recommended unless there is some other layer
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- which will verify the integrity of the uncompressed data anyway.
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- Double checking the integrity would probably be waste of CPU cycles.
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- Note that the headers will always have a CRC32 which will be validated
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- by the decoder; you can only change the integrity check type (or
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- disable it) for the actual uncompressed data.
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-
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- In userspace, LZMA2 is typically used with dictionary sizes of several
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- megabytes. The decoder needs to have the dictionary in RAM, thus big
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- dictionaries cannot be used for files that are intended to be decoded
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- by the kernel. 1 MiB is probably the maximum reasonable dictionary
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- size for in-kernel use (maybe more is OK for initramfs). The presets
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- in XZ Utils may not be optimal when creating files for the kernel,
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- so don't hesitate to use custom settings. Example:
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-
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- xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=512KiB inputfile
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-
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- An exception to above dictionary size limitation is when the decoder
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- is used in single-call mode. Decompressing the kernel itself is an
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- example of this situation. In single-call mode, the memory usage
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- doesn't depend on the dictionary size, and it is perfectly fine to
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- use a big dictionary: for maximum compression, the dictionary should
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- be at least as big as the uncompressed data itself.
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+Since the XZ Embedded supports only streams with no integrity check or
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+CRC32, make sure that you don't use some other integrity check type
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+when encoding files that are supposed to be decoded by the kernel. With
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+liblzma, you need to use either LZMA_CHECK_NONE or LZMA_CHECK_CRC32
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+when encoding. With the xz command line tool, use --check=none or
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+--check=crc32.
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+
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+Using CRC32 is strongly recommended unless there is some other layer
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+which will verify the integrity of the uncompressed data anyway.
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+Double checking the integrity would probably be waste of CPU cycles.
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+Note that the headers will always have a CRC32 which will be validated
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+by the decoder; you can only change the integrity check type (or
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+disable it) for the actual uncompressed data.
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+
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+In userspace, LZMA2 is typically used with dictionary sizes of several
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+megabytes. The decoder needs to have the dictionary in RAM, thus big
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+dictionaries cannot be used for files that are intended to be decoded
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+by the kernel. 1 MiB is probably the maximum reasonable dictionary
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+size for in-kernel use (maybe more is OK for initramfs). The presets
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+in XZ Utils may not be optimal when creating files for the kernel,
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+so don't hesitate to use custom settings. Example::
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+
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+ xz --check=crc32 --lzma2=dict=512KiB inputfile
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+
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+An exception to above dictionary size limitation is when the decoder
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+is used in single-call mode. Decompressing the kernel itself is an
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+example of this situation. In single-call mode, the memory usage
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+doesn't depend on the dictionary size, and it is perfectly fine to
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+use a big dictionary: for maximum compression, the dictionary should
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+be at least as big as the uncompressed data itself.
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Future plans
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+============
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- Creating a limited XZ encoder may be considered if people think it is
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- useful. LZMA2 is slower to compress than e.g. Deflate or LZO even at
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- the fastest settings, so it isn't clear if LZMA2 encoder is wanted
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- into the kernel.
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+Creating a limited XZ encoder may be considered if people think it is
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+useful. LZMA2 is slower to compress than e.g. Deflate or LZO even at
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+the fastest settings, so it isn't clear if LZMA2 encoder is wanted
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+into the kernel.
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- Support for limited random-access reading is planned for the
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- decompression code. I don't know if it could have any use in the
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- kernel, but I know that it would be useful in some embedded projects
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- outside the Linux kernel.
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+Support for limited random-access reading is planned for the
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+decompression code. I don't know if it could have any use in the
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+kernel, but I know that it would be useful in some embedded projects
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+outside the Linux kernel.
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Conformance to the .xz file format specification
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+================================================
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- There are a couple of corner cases where things have been simplified
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- at expense of detecting errors as early as possible. These should not
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- matter in practice all, since they don't cause security issues. But
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- it is good to know this if testing the code e.g. with the test files
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- from XZ Utils.
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+There are a couple of corner cases where things have been simplified
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+at expense of detecting errors as early as possible. These should not
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+matter in practice all, since they don't cause security issues. But
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+it is good to know this if testing the code e.g. with the test files
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+from XZ Utils.
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Reporting bugs
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+==============
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- Before reporting a bug, please check that it's not fixed already
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- at upstream. See <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html> to get the
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- latest code.
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+Before reporting a bug, please check that it's not fixed already
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+at upstream. See <http://tukaani.org/xz/embedded.html> to get the
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+latest code.
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- Report bugs to <lasse.collin@tukaani.org> or visit #tukaani on
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- Freenode and talk to Larhzu. I don't actively read LKML or other
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- kernel-related mailing lists, so if there's something I should know,
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- you should email to me personally or use IRC.
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+Report bugs to <lasse.collin@tukaani.org> or visit #tukaani on
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+Freenode and talk to Larhzu. I don't actively read LKML or other
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+kernel-related mailing lists, so if there's something I should know,
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+you should email to me personally or use IRC.
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- Don't bother Igor Pavlov with questions about the XZ implementation
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- in the kernel or about XZ Utils. While these two implementations
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- include essential code that is directly based on Igor Pavlov's code,
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- these implementations aren't maintained nor supported by him.
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+Don't bother Igor Pavlov with questions about the XZ implementation
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+in the kernel or about XZ Utils. While these two implementations
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+include essential code that is directly based on Igor Pavlov's code,
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+these implementations aren't maintained nor supported by him.
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