Why do people RAR almost everything on the internet

[Byte]

they can't compress anymore and aren't divided

 

[IamDavid]

less chance of corrupt file? I think

 

[Queasy]

PARs to correct for corrupted files and allows you to download in manageable chunks.

My take at least.

 

[n7]

Also, if i'm not mistaken, newsgroups only support certain sized files?

Plus, the scene has rules.

Rarring is part of the rules...

 

[EULA]

I just compressed an mp3...

Didnt save MUCH room, but it did compress...

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: Queasy
PARs to correct for corrupted files and allows you to download in manageable chunks.

My take at least.

yeah it's probably more of a packaging solution rather than size reduction

 

[WobbleWobble]

Because you know your download was corrupted if it doesn't unrar properly.

 

[rh71]

also because if there are many files, rarring them will allow you to name them uniformly for download purposes.

 

[Sunner]

Also, downloading something large(say over 3 GB) in 50 MB chunks is a helluva lot faster if you can pull it from 10 people at once instead of pulling one big 3 GB file from one person(unless you're lucky enough to find someone with a big enough pipe to max you out).

 

[Jeff7]

Tom's Hardware Guide will distribute AVI's in ZIP form. They do save some space, but really not a lot. Actually, if they'd RAR them, they'd save a bit more space.

Less chance of corrupt file? I think

RAR does allow for a recovery record, which can let you rebuild data in the event of file damage.
Overall, I think that RAR is superior to ZIP.

Good compression is used where it has some benefit. If you're doing it to save 100KB on a 200MB file, then it's a waste of time to compress and decompress. If reducing a 10MB file by 500KB, it might be worth it then, especially if many thousands of people are going to be downloading that file - that could potentially be gigabytes of bandwidth.
Just use the right compression for the job.
- MP3 for audio if size is a concern. FLAC if quality is a concern.
- JPG for images if size is a concern, PNG if quality is a concern.
- PNG also works great for simple screenshots, often giving GIF-sized files without reducing the number of colors.
- XviD for video, especially if 2-pass mode is used.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

allows you to split up large files