compress files in linux

[hanny]

can any one tell me how to compress many files into one directory in linux

thanx in advance.

[scmgk]

Have you tried "tar -cvf compressed_filename.tar /folder/to/compress" ?

[hanny]

I have not tried the tar commannd .I don't know the usage of tar command.please guide me on this.

[bdog]

Scmgk is right. If you have alot of files in /home/fred/junk you want to put into a tarball type
tar -cvf junkcompressed.tar /home/fred/junk
If you want to further compress the tarball
change into the directory it is in and type compress junkcompressed.tar

[scmgk]

And by the way, "tar -xf compressed_file.tar" or "tar -xvf compressed_file.tar" uncompresses a tar file. Type "man tar" for more info.