zmore(1) on Solnix vs Linux and the BSDs
zmore is not in the Solnix base system; it comes from the GNU gzip package (pkgs.solnix.gzip). It has its own built-in pager commands (--More--, space, /, !). FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD instead wrap more(1) or less(1) and pass flags through to it.
The manual pages
What Solnix runs
Not installed by default: add pkgs.solnix.gzip. The bundle shows no illumos zmore and no other variants. The Solnix page is the gzip page, and its text is the same as the Linux gzip-1.14 zmore(1) page.
Differences
| Compared with | Topic | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| Linux | same program | The Solnix zmore page is word-for-word the same as the Linux gzip-1.14 zmore page: same synopsis, same interactive commands, same /etc/termcap and PAGER text. Expect identical behaviour to Linux.Source: Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION; Linux zmore(1) DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | flags | Solnix zmore takes only file names. The BSD synopses are zmore [flags] [file ...], and the flags are handed to the pager (more or less). A BSD invocation with pager flags is not documented for Solnix. Source: Solnix zmore(1) SYNOPSIS; FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) SYNOPSIS and DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | who does the paging | On Solnix, zmore documents its own pager: --More-- prompt, space, d, z, s, f, /expr, n, !command, =, q. The BSD pages describe a wrapper around more(1) or less(1) and document only e, q and s at the end of each file.Source: Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION (key list); FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | multiple files | On the BSDs, zmore pauses at the end of each file with the prompt "prev_file (END) - Next: next_file"; s skips the next file. The Solnix page documents no such prompt or skip key. Its s command skips lines within a file. Source: FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) DESCRIPTION; Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION (is) |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | no file arguments | On the BSDs, zmore with no files reads standard input and assumes gzip-style compression. The Solnix page shows name as optional in the synopsis but does not say what happens when none is given. Source: FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) DESCRIPTION; Solnix zmore(1) SYNOPSIS |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | output not a terminal | Solnix zmore acts like zcat when stdout is not a terminal, printing a header before each file if there is more than one. The BSD pages do not document this. Source: Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION (last paragraph); FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | formats and suffix lookup | Solnix zmore handles compress, pack and gzip files, and if a file is missing it tries .gz, .z and .Z suffixes. The BSD pages name only the compress and gzip formats and mention "Z" or "gz" extensions; they describe no suffix search. Source: Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) DESCRIPTION |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | PAGER and terminal data | Solnix describes PAGER as selecting a pager other than the default more, and reads /etc/termcap for window size (22 lines on a 24-line terminal). FreeBSD and NetBSD document PAGER with default /usr/bin/more. The OpenBSD page has no ENVIRONMENT section.Source: Solnix zmore(1) DESCRIPTION; FreeBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) ENVIRONMENT; OpenBSD zmore(1) |
| FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD | zless | The BSD pages also document zless, which uses less(1). The Solnix page documents only zmore and does not list zless. Source: FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD zmore(1) NAME and DESCRIPTION; Solnix zmore(1) NAME |
Standards
- POSIX: zmore is not a POSIX.1-2024 utility.
Writing portable scripts
- Do not pass pager flags to zmore in portable scripts: BSD zmore forwards them to the pager, while Solnix and Linux zmore take only file names.
- In scripts, use zcat or gzip
-dcpiped into your own pager rather than relying on zmore's key bindings, which differ between the GNU and BSD versions.
Every difference here is taken from the manual pages linked above: Solnix's published page, Linux (man-pages and the GNU and util-linux manuals), FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD. Each row names its source. Where a manual is silent, this page is too. Compiled 2026-10-26. Found a mistake? Mail hackers@lists.solnix.io.