Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

tar and feather
     
         (A sick contrivance from the {Unix} {tar} command and
        the Ku Klux Klan torture method) To create a transportable
        archive from a group of files by first sticking them together
        with {tar} (the Tape ARchiver) and then {compress}ing the
        result.  The latter action is dubbed "feathering" (purely for
        contrived effect) by analogy to what you do with an aeroplane
        propeller to decrease wind resistance, or with an oar to
        reduce water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip
        through comm links more easily.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1997-05-26)