Re: `auto-compression-mode' is dangerous (and not needed) in Emacs 21, and ought to be disabled.

[Eli Zaretskii]

On 7 Jan 2002, Eric Hanchrow wrote:

> * Try to save:
> 
>       C-x C-s
> 
>   Note that Emacs asks you if you'd like to `Write hey.gz using
>   gzip'.  Since that sounds reasonable, answer yes by typing `y'.
>   Now Emacs asks you to select a coding system.  I have no idea what
>   this means, but accepting the default (utf-8) seems like the
>   reasonable thing to do, so hit RET.  Note that Emacs asks the same
>   question again.  This is puzzling.  Hit RET again.  Now Emacs seems
>   happy -- it prints `Wrote /tmp/hey.gz' in the echo area.
> 
>   However, examine the file /tmp/hey.gz, and you'll see that it
>   doesn't contain what I'd expect it to: you can uncompress it with
>   `uncompress /tmp/hey.gz', but the resulting file isn't the words
>   `hey you What up?', but rather a bunch of apparently random
>   characters, which the `file' program describes as merely `data'.
>   This is scary.

I cannot reproduce this: your recipe works for me as I'd expect.
Specifically, it does _not_ ask me about any coding systems, not even
once, and the file created is a valid gzip-compressed file with the
edited contents, including "What up?".

So I suspect some add-on package that lurks on your load-path,
especially since you didn't use --no-site-file when invoking Emacs.

> Since auto-compression-mode seems not to be required with Emacs21

I cannot reproduce this either: if I don't turn on
auto-compression-mode, I get the uncompressed binary garbage in my
buffer when I visit hey.gz.