squashfs ☆

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Description:
Compressed read-only file system for Linux

Type: Formula | Latest Version: 4.7.4@0 | Tracked Since: Nov 5, 2025

Links: Homepage | formulae.brew.sh

Category: System utilities

Tags: filesystem compression linux archive embedded

Install: brew install squashfs

About:
Squashfs is a highly compressed read-only file system for Linux. It uses gzip, lzma, lzo, or xz compression to achieve up to 2x better compression than traditional gzip, making it ideal for space-constrained embedded systems and live Linux distributions.

Key Features:

High compression ratios with multiple algorithms (gzip, lzma, lzo, xz, zstd)
Block-based compression for efficient random access
Support for large filesystems (up to 2^64 bytes)
Optional XATTR support for extended attributes
Fragmentation and duplicate file elimination

Use Cases:

Live Linux distributions and installation media
Embedded systems and IoT devices with limited storage
Software package distribution and archival
Container image layers

Alternatives:

tar – Uncompressed archive format, larger files but simpler extraction
mkisofs – Creates ISO images without compression, better for optical media
erofs – Newer Linux read-only filesystem with better compression but less widespread support

Version History

Detected	Version	Rev	Change	Commit
Nov 5, 2025 11:21pm		0	VERSION_BUMP	9fa31772
Sep 14, 2025 6:37am		0	VERSION_BUMP	6c917dad