So why doesn't the web server just do this by default?
This works for me if I do:
ini_set('zlib.output_compression_level', 3); ob_start("ob_gzhandler");
or even just:
ob_start("ob_gzhandler");
I did the level 3 compression, I think the default was 6 and I didn't want to put too much load on the server. For a 895k file (my largest) the compression levels were:
1 = 189k
3 = 178k
4 = 163k
6 = 156k (I believe 6 is the default if you leave out the ini_set)
9 = 155k
I use http://www.whatsmyip.org/mod_gzip_test/ to check the sizes.
FYI: This works with dynamic files in Movable Type 3.x (I'm testing it in 3.2) I've got the above command in the first line of my mtview.php file.
More info here: http://www.whatsmyip.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=43
On several sites I've read the some browsers don't like compressed CSS.