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From: madler@nntp-server.caltech.edu (Mark Adler)
Newsgroups: comp.compression
Subject: Re: mailable binary
Message-ID: <1991Mar26.183239.20049@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Date: 26 Mar 91 18:32:39 GMT
References: <ariel.670004954@tiger1>
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Lines: 16


In response to Rob Ullmann's LZJU90 RFC draft which suggests a
combined compression, xxencode, and crc checked format:

In my humble opinion, the compression utility and the "expansion"
utility used to make the binary result of the compression mailable
should be separate utilities.  The reason is that compression is
a rapidly advancing field, and better methods will continue to
arise and supplant old ones, whereas making a binary mailable is
well understood, and very nearly optimal base 85 or base 95
(the former handles EBCDIC, the latter being ASCII only) methods
can be used.  xxencode, by the way, is not a nearly optimal
method.

Mark Adler
madler@pooh.caltech.edu