Xref: utzoo comp.sources.d:2029 comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d:115
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!cbmvax!vu-vlsi!devon!paul
From: paul@devon.UUCP (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
Newsgroups: comp.sources.d,comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Standard for file transmission
Message-ID: <767@devon.UUCP>
Date: 5 May 88 13:35:11 GMT
References: <296@cullsj.UUCP>
Reply-To: paul@devon.UUCP (Paul Sutcliffe Jr.)
Organization: Devon Computer Services, Lancaster, PA
Lines: 31
Keywords: protocol compression source

In article <296@cullsj.UUCP> jeff@cullsj.UUCP (Jeffrey C. Fried) writes:
+---------
|   1) COMPRESS is a text only compression routine.  It will not now, or ever,
|      help in the compression of binary files.
+---------

This is absolute and complete Bull-Ka-Ka.

    # cp /bin/sh /tmp
    # cd /tmp
    # ls -l sh
    -rwx--x--t   1 root     root       37762 May  5 09:23 sh
    # compress -V -v sh
    $Header: compress.c,v 4.0 85/07/30 12:50:00 joe Release $
    Options: BITS = 16
    sh: Compression: 34.90% -- replaced with sh.Z
    # ls -l sh.Z
    -rwx--x--t   1 root     root       24582 May  5 09:23 sh.Z

Looks like you can compress binaries to me!  Granted, the compression
factor isn't as good as can be had with text files (I've seen as much
as 90% in text files with plenty of repeating characters), but it
*does* work on binaries.

- paul

-- 
Paul Sutcliffe, Jr.				  +------------------------+
						  | Know what I hate most? |
UUCP (smart): paul@devon.UUCP			  |  Rhetorical questions. |
UUCP (dumb):  ...rutgers!bpa!vu-vlsi!devon!paul   +------<Henry Camp>------+