Fixing TIP 234: zlib support

Hi

I've been reviewing TIP#234 today (which describes a feature set that
I'd really like to have in 8.6) and I've seen that it has a number of
odd limitations and unfortunate features. This message is an attempt to
write some of them down. I don't claim to have all the answers. 

   1) Do we really want to publicise the streaming API? Maybe it would be
      fine to just provide a way to attach a streaming gzip/gunzip to a
      channel as a transformation (see [chan push]) and leave it at that.

   2) The API for [zlib gzip] and [zlib gunzip] seems odd too. Why can't
      I control (for gzip) or discover (for gunzip) the metadata? For the
      gzipper, it'd probably be best to express this as a set of options
      (the compression level would be best done the same way) but I'm not
      quite so sure about for gunzip.

   3) Is it necessary to give a buffer size, or is letting Tcl pick one
      itself "good enough"? (After all, we give a buffer growth algorithm
      in the TIP!)

Let me be clear again: I'd *really* like to see zlib support in Tcl in
8.6 (and PNG images too) and I think it would make a good Big Ticket
item for many users. But I'd also like the API to be nice too, and we've
got a little time now (rest of October to be honest) to clear things up...

Donal.

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