[issue9664] Make gzip module not require that underlying file object support seek

[R. David Murray]

R. David Murray <rdmurray at bitdance.com> added the comment:

Matt: if you want to learn the file format and propose a patch, I think it would be OK for gzip to duck-type the file object and only raise an error when a seek is explicitly requested.  After all, that's the way real file objects work.  A quick glance at the code, though, indicates this isn't a trivial refactoring.  I think it should be possible in theory since one can pipe a gzipped file into gunzip, and I don't think it buffers the whole file to unzip it...but I don't know for sure. Another issue is that if the patch substantially changes the memory/performance footprint it might get rejected on that basis.

If you (or anyone else) wants to work on a patch let me know and I'll reopen the issue.

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nosy: +r.david.murray
type:  -> behavior
versions:  -Python 3.3

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