The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):

tar and feather
 vi.

    [from Unix tar(1)] To create a transportable archive from a group of files
    by first sticking them together with tar(1) (the Tape ARchiver) and then
    compressing the result (see compress). The latter action is dubbed
    feathering partly for euphony and (if only for contrived effect) by analogy
    to what you do with an airplane propeller to decrease wind resistance, or
    with an oar to reduce water resistance; smaller files, after all, slip
    through comm links more easily. Compare the more common tarball. Earlier,
    the phrase referred to a punishment in which the victims had tar being
    poured upon them and then, whilst the tar was still sticky, having a pillow
    full of feathers - or other material ? thrown at them. See http://
    www.nwta.com/Spy/spring99/tar.html.


The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

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 compressing 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)