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Last active June 2, 2025 14:15
Make Ubuntu packages 90% faster by rebuilding them

Make Ubuntu packages 90% faster by rebuilding them

TL;DR

You can take the same source code package that Ubuntu uses to build jq, compile it again, and realize 90% better performance.

Setting

I use jq for processing GeoJSON files and other open data offered in JSON format. Today I am working with a 500MB GeoJSON file that contains the Alameda County Assessor's parcel map. I want to run a query that prints the city for every parcel worth more than a threshold amount. The program is