eli5: Why can’t programs run .zip files although they take just a few seconds to extract?

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Title, really.

In: Technology

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A zip file is a file. The program has no way to know what it is. If it does, and the programmer decides to support it, then the program could easily read it, decode it and run it.

There are plugins that allow a zip file to look like a disk drive to other programs. Then a program can do exactly what you want.

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