14 Aug
2006
14 Aug
'06
12:44 p.m.
On 8/14/2006 at 2:31 PM Jim Leonard wrote:
On Mon, Aug 14, 2006 at 09:49:16AM -0700, Chuck Guzis
wrote:
> In any case, the LZW patent is now firmly ensconced in history and
should
not be a
reason to avoid a particular compressed format.
...with the exception that LZW was never very efficient to begin
with. :-) LZ77 variants (specifically LZSS and its variants) have always outperformed LZ78 variants like LZW.
No argument, Jim! Just pointing out that if the patent was an issue with
using a certain format, it shouldn't be now as all LZ (or ZL) patents have
lapsed.
Just like .ARC files--no reason to avoid them now out of fear of getting
sued. Any IP claims on the technology are now history. Not that they're a
particularly efficient way to go about file compression...
Cheers,
Chuck