Scanning formats

[Chuck Guzis]

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