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Date:      Fri, 13 Dec 2024 16:15:45 -0500
From:      Ed Maste <emaste@freebsd.org>
To:        FreeBSD Current <freebsd-current@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Switching release media dist sets to .tzst (tar + zstd)?
Message-ID:  <CAPyFy2AXee_Y2xei176VAcW6peC0x=waxfPap%2B3uGG2o%2Bynv-A@mail.gmail.com>

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I have been reviewing parts of the release artifact build process,
including ISO and memstick images, and came across the distribution
sets (e.g., base.txz, src.txz) used by the installer to populate new
file systems. I=E2=80=99d like to discuss switching these to .tzst (tar +
zstd) compression.

While I haven=E2=80=99t yet conducted detailed benchmarks comparing zstd an=
d
xz specifically for this use case, here are some initial
considerations:

Pros of zstd:
- Faster compression and decompression speeds.
- Aligns with the compression method used for FreeBSD packages.

Cons of zstd:
- Somewhat larger compressed file sizes.
- Requires updates to tools that interact with distribution sets.
- May have limited availability on some other operating systems (?).

I have a review open to demonstrate the extent of the change in the
build system & installer: https://reviews.freebsd.org/D48042

It might be that this is not worth pursuing, as dist sets will most
likely go away with the migration to pkgbase, but I would like to
discuss and make an explicit decision. We can separately consider
compression on the release media images themselves.

Feedback Requested:

Is there support for this idea? Are there objections to pursuing this?
Are there other factors I should consider, especially compatibility concern=
s?



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