sharutils is the GNU version of the traditional Unix utilities to create self-extracting file archives. It also includes uuencode and uudecode, which are a bit better than the standard ones.
sharutils-4.2.1: description + notes
Enclosed is the first paragraph of the man page:
Shar creates "shell archives" (or shar files) which are in text format and can be mailed. These files may be unpacked later by executing them with /bin/sh. The resulting archive is sent to standard out unless the -o option is given. A wide range of features provide extensive flexibility in manufacturing shars and in specifying shar "smartness". Archives may be "vanilla" or comprehensive.
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