Whenever programs on a minimum system produce data, you might consider outputting it in a compressed format from the beginning. This will not only save scarce disk-space, downloading to a server or pushing data over an NFS-mount can also be substantially improved if a compressed format is used. Alternatively, data files and log-files may be compressed periodically by a simple cronjob, especially for local log-files on embedded systems where in many cases only recent events will be relevant.