> If the entire payload were compressed in reverse, it should theoretically be possible to start decompressing at the high end of the compressed program data, writing to the high end of the allocated memory in descending order, without overwriting the source material or requiring a copy of the payload in the first place.
This won't work at the very end of the decompression: the last (first) few bytes would overlap. This is possible but complicated to fix in the decompressor.
Also it won't work, because the decompressor code would be overwritten during decompression. This is not possible to fix.
Compression ratio may also be affected, depending on the compressor.
> If the entire payload were compressed in reverse, it should theoretically be possible to start decompressing at the high end of the compressed program data, writing to the high end of the allocated memory in descending order, without overwriting the source material or requiring a copy of the payload in the first place.
This won't work at the very end of the decompression: the last (first) few bytes would overlap. This is possible but complicated to fix in the decompressor.
Also it won't work, because the decompressor code would be overwritten during decompression. This is not possible to fix.
Compression ratio may also be affected, depending on the compressor.