2.5 Compressed Executables

The storage space of executable files may be reduced by compressing them with the GNU zip utility gzip. When the GZ_FILE feature is enabled, the afexec() and aload() system calls will automatically uncompress .gz files before loading them into memory. Here is an example:

1. Compress the ls tool on your host:

   $ gzip ls.r

2. Run ls as normal, omitting the .gz extension:

   $ arun ls

   or

   $ arun ls.r

Dynamic libraries can also be compressed in the same way. See the GZ_FILE(5FEA), the afexec(2K), and the aload(2K) man pages for more information.