7-zip has an official release for Linux for the first time

In fact, Linux has long possessed support for the 7-zip archive file format through a POSIX port called p7zip. But it is maintained by another developer, therefore cannot be considered 'official'.

The team responsible for p7zip has not maintained their project for the past 4-5 years. This is the main reason 7-Zip developer, Igor Pavlov, decided to create a new official version of Linux based on the latest 7-Zip source code - something many have been waiting for.

The 7-Zip tool for Linux is currently released by Igor Pavlov in AMD64, ARM64, x86 and armhf versions, which can be downloaded by visiting the following links:

1. 7-Zip for 64-bit Linux x86-64 (AMD64) here.
2. 7-Zip for 64-bit Linux ARM64 here.
3. 7-Zip for Linux x86 32-bit here.
4. 7-Zip for Linux armhf 32-bit here.

This first official version of 7-Zip for Linux was released as a console application and had the same command line arguments, but not exactly the same as p7zip.

Although the source has not been announced, Pavlov has shared some information on how the application is aggregated. The developer claimed not to work with Linux, instead calling for ideas from other developers on the best way to compile the program.

At the same time, Pavlov also suggested that users rate the performance of 7-Zip Linux on different systems using the following command:

./7zz b "-mm=*" "-mmt=*" -bt > bench.txt 

Users can then upload their bench.txt report as a comment on the 7-Zip release page for Linux so they can review the bugs and potential performance improvements.

Overall, the official appearance of 7-Zip is clearly great news for Linux users who prefer to use 7-Zip. However, the mystery in the 7-zip's source code also raises some concerns, especially about security.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 15 March 2021