[lug] Are xcf (gimp) files that much smaller than bmps?

[Peter Hutnick]

> I accidentally found out that windows does support some forms of bitmap
> compression, and the Gimp will create them.  Take the bitmap, switch to
> index mode (Ctrl-I) and create an index with a custom palette.  Then do
> a Save-As and pick bmp.  Gimp will prompt you to do RLE (Run Length
> Encoding) compression on the image.

Did anyone else get a second copy of this?  I can't tell if it is
something quirky with this list or my fetchmail . . .

Anyway, I wasn't going to pick this nit, but since I found it in my inbox
again . . .

RLE isn't /really/ compression.  It is a more efficient method of storing
graphics data.

I submit that this is a difference /with/ a distinction.

I'd say that compression is when you look at a set of data and find some
way to represent it in an "equivalent" way (the meaning of equivalent
varies with lossy and lossless compression) with fewer bits.

I'd say that RLE is an example of storing data in a way that accounts for
that type of data's properties to store them more efficiently.

And as a litmus test: when I upgraded my the controller for my hard disks
from an MFM to an RLL controller did the new controller "compress" my
disks?

What is my obsession with ancient hardware lately?

-Peter