znew(1)

znew1

Recompress .z files to .gz files

Usage

znew [-ftv9PK] [name.Z ...]

Overview

The Znew command recompresses files from .Z (compress) format to .gz (gzip) format. If you want to recompress a file already in gzip format, rename the file to force a .Z extension then apply znew.

Options

-f

Force recompression from .Z to .gz format even if a .gz file already exists.

-t

Tests the new files before deleting originals.

-v

Verbose. Display the name and percentage reduction for each file compressed.

-9

Use the slowest compression method (optimal compression).

-K

Keep a .Z file when it is smaller than the .gz file; implies -t.

Releases

19 releases since Debian 1.1 (Buzz); the text changed 4 times.

  1. 1.1–6.0
  2. 7–9
  3. 10–11
  4. 12–13
  5. Arch

-P until Debian 13 (Trixie).

From gzip 1.15-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.