Why can't you combine .tar.gz files with cat?

Skip to main contentalexwlchan » Computers and codeWhy can’t you combine .tar.gz files with cat?Posted 20 August 2026I’m working on a project that generates multiple .tar.gz archives, and I need to combine them into one final file. I thought I could just cat the bytes together, but that doesn’t work. This seemingly simple task exposed my flawed understanding of tar and gzip.To my fix my code, I first had to fix my mental model – and that took me into tape drives, patent laws, and end-of-file mar