I host a JavaScript game which basically consists of an .html and a .data file. If I compress them with gzip, their size shrinks to 25%. So I want to do that.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think using mod_gzip or mod_deflate does the compression on-the-fly, wasting cpu time all the time because the Content doesn't Change.

So I'ld like to precompile the Content. Therefore, I put a .gz next to the uncompressed files and put rewrite rules in .htaccess:

RewriteEngine on 

# If client accepts compressed files 

RewriteCond %{HTTP:Accept-Encoding} gzip 

# and if compressed file exists 

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.gz -f 

# send .html.gz instead of .html 

RewriteRule ^(.+).(html|css|js|data)$ $1.$2.gz [T=text/$2,E=GZIP:gzip,L] 

Header set Content-Encoding gzip env=GZIP 

The Redirect is working, I can request game.html and actually get deliviered game.html.gz. However, the browser doesn't just display it. Instead, it asks me where to save the file. How can I fix that? Or maybe there is another way to achieve my Goal?