I think all of us end-users are really bored of the big size and reduced functionality of all those modern executables written to run under OS/2 (windos too). I don`t understand why they are so big, because most compilers, even IBM CSet/VACPP generate a modest size code. For a widely known example let`s take MultiMaint. What a complex task it performs that its executable occupies more that 700K? I don`t understand. Moreover, WHY duplicate (and triplicate) almost the same executable as it does (I mean MultiSafe and IniMaint which comes along with MultiMaint). It performs a nice work, but it is TOO big for the task it acomplishes. OS/2 kernel have the same size, and performs INCOMPARABLY much more things. I cannot afford such a large pile of shit on my HD, so I killed MultiMaint & C�. :`-(. Too bad for its author.
Here is a workaround for this. You can just pack the executable so it will be twice smaller and still perform the same task. Alas, it will grab the same amount of memory as original executable does - this is the fault of the program`s author. But it will load (and swap) faster in most cases (unless you have a Fast UltraWide SCSI 2 HD :-)
As far as I know there is only one program which does the same - REPACK from IBM (EWS?). But compared to lxLite it gives less compression using same algorithm. For example, COURIER.FON from OS/2 v8.192 it compresses into 44K and lxLite into 34K. Feel the difference. BTW, LINK386+Resource Compiler compiles COURIER.FON also into 44K-size file. This makes me think that they use the same common compression code.
I`ve packed ALL my executables (incuding but not limiting to ?:\os2\*.exe, ?:\os2\dll\*.* and ?:\os2\dll\ibmnull;laserjet) and my system is stiil working fine :-) One of lxLite users (Pavel Roskin) observed that lxLite packs even os2krnl :-) This is a very nice feature to create a SINGLE OS/2 boot diskette, moreover, since version 1.1.8 lxLite has the ability to pack even device drivers, so you can even gain a little of free space on that diskette, enough to put there say FC/2 or other text-mode shell.