EKR <ekr(_at_)rtfm(_dot_)com> writes:
My interpretation of the history is that compression support foundered on
intellectual property issues. I.e. there was no algorithm which everyone
could agree was unencumbered. Since there was a desire to get the spec out
quickly and the issue was sticky, it was punted. I definitely remember
several meetings of the IPSEC working group where the IP situation was
discussed and it was distinctly murky.
This seems a bit odd, given that a completely unencumbered algorithm and free
implementation existed years before the web (let alone SSL) did. There are
problems with ITU and ISO-standarised algorithms (which seem to exist solely
to provide patent licensing outlets for vendors, and which in any case tend to
have mediocre performance), but Zip/zlib has never had any problems
Peter.