Tarball Files

| Format | Use Case | |--------|----------| | .tar.gz | Source code, system backups, CI artifacts | | .zip | Cross-platform document exchange (Windows + macOS) | | .7z | High-compression personal archives (7-Zip) | | .deb / .rpm | Package management (built on tar + metadata) |

The name "tarball" is derived from the format. Originally designed for writing data to physical magnetic tapes, the tar command line utility "sticks" multiple files together into one "ball" or container. tarball files

A tarball is not a single file format but a two-step combination : | Format | Use Case | |--------|----------| |