automatic compression of files

Hi,

We use the aarnet.edu.au mirror for Debian packages, which is not an 
official mirror. I've noticed today the installation of a VM isn't working.

I think it may be because when I download 
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/debian/dists/wheezy/main/i18n/Translation-en, 
I get a bz2 compressed file instead. I've also noticed that at 
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/debian/dists/wheezy/main/i18n/ the 
uncompressed file isn't listed.

I don't think the Debian installer expects that. The 
http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/debian/dists/wheezy/Release file 
suggests I should be able to download either main/i18n/Translation-en or 
main/i18n/Translation-en.bz2.

I suspect if the main/i18n/Translation-en download failed, the installer 
would then try the bz2 download, and it might proceed.

I compared this with ftp.au.debian.org and ftp.nz.debian.org. It seems 
ftp.au.debian.org is behaving just like mirror.aarnet.edu.au, but 
ftp.nz.debian.org is returning a 404 on 
http://ftp.nz.debian.org/debian/dists/wheezy/main/i18n/Translation-en.

Does anyone have any comments on whether the debian installer should 
support this (I am running an older Debian Wheezy installer)?

-- 
Geoff Crompton, System Administrator
T: +61 (0)3 9348 7138
Trinity College | University of Melbourne | Royal Parade, Parkville | 
Victoria 3052, Australia
www.trinity.unimelb.edu.au