[Bug 152349] Re: gzip does not provide keep input files option

[Jani Monoses]

Shriramana, I agree with Martin above. It can be frustrating to have a
patch ignored for weeks, let alone four years so I feel for you.

I'd advise however to leave this, as it is unlikely to get upstream, and will definitely not be in Ubuntu if it is not upstream.
Think of the scenario when we start carrying this patch and people start taking advantage of this option in their scripts. Suddenly those script won't run on older Ubuntu versions, and worse they won't run on Debian.Fedora etc, creating new sources of frustration and time wasted.

I think the only sensible way to change core system stuff is to engage with upstream. Given that gzip upstream does not seem to be what one calls 'active development mode' this issue is better left as is, and let's live with gzip as it is now.
If bzip2 has that option you need, that may be a better tool to use in your scenario that gave rise to this patch.
I think it will save you time to just forget about this patch however much time you spent on it and advocating it. Your skills and time could be put to  much better use in Ubuntu or or other projects by working on patches that benefit many users and that have good chances of getting accepted by active maintainers.
Thanks again for your contribution, failure to get this into Ubuntu is not anyone's fault, old software just tends to not add to many features and is not the most rewarding place to be contributing to. And while Ubuntu adds polish and sometimes enhances upstream projects, we do not do it in such subtle ways that could trip up unaware users.


** Changed in: gzip (Ubuntu)
       Status: Confirmed => Won't Fix

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/152349

Title:
  gzip does not provide keep input files option

Status in “gzip” package in Ubuntu:
  Won't Fix

Bug description:
  Binary package hint: gzip

  bzip2 gives a -k or --keep option which prevents the source files from
  being deleted. gzip does not have this. It is highly useful when a
  number of files have to be compressed/decompressed. Otherwise we are
  forced to write a for x in $(ls *.gz) kind of script when just two
  letters "-k" will solve the problem.

  I created a patch for this.

  I have requested the original creators and the Debian maintainer to
  include this, but there has been no response, no yes or no from them.
  I file this bug therefore in Ubuntu so that at least my favourite
  distro has this feature. I will attach patch in next step.

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