[brianwski]

Disclaimer: I work at Backblaze.

We tend to favor ZIP as a company because with no additional tools on all platforms (like Macintosh and Windows) it unpacks. No additional technology other than what the manufacturer provides.

In this case, we could provide the raw data in several formats in case bandwidth is a problem, plus I think we should provide the SHA2 or md5 of the resulting package just in case you are wondering if you got the correct download or whether somebody has messed with the contents.

[ars]

Windows has the 7zip program which handles lzma just fine - it's overall a better program than zip anyway.

[pests]

He said provided by the manufacturer by default, not something the user has to install themselves.