12% reduction of Audacity's installed size

[terryn]

Using a Mac app called [Hot link removed by moderator] ImageOptim, which is a front-end for the OptiPNG, PNGOUT, advPNG, Zopfli, Gifsicle, and MozJPEG tools, the total size of the Mac app bundle for version 2.1.3 can be reduced by 12%, losslessly. (A similarly large reduction should apply for the Windows installation.)

May I suggest adding the running of ImageOptim or something like it, on its highest settings, to the packaging process? It would save your download hosts on bandwidth costs—compression of the installation media won't be able to compensate for this—and your users disk space in every subsequent release.

[steve]

Thanks for your suggestion.

With Apple making it ever more difficult to run free open source software on Macs, the priority at this time is to ensure that Audacity can be installed and run, which dictates many of the decisions about how the Audacity application is "packaged" for Mac. While it is generally desirable to optimise the application for smaller file size, doing so adds another layer of complexity for code signing and keeping "Gatekeeper" happy.

Where does your "12%" figure come from?

[cyrano]

Apple just introduced a new, HR, efficient image format. Why would anyone bother with a compression optimizer at all?

Especially, since the rhetoric about DRM on the maker's site seems a bit over the top. Designed to make you trust them as "good guys". That's when I introduce my paranoia to my phantasy...