What does "compressing" a RAW file even mean? Is the actual content in the smaller downloaded version in some other format (e.g. JPEG)? Or is it simply trunca

What does "compressing" a RAW file even mean? Is the actual content in the smaller downloaded version in some other format (e.g. JPEG)? Or is it simply truncated, either due to a bug or else stripping the actual RAW data, leaving only an embedded JPEG image? It seems implausible that anyone would consider it a good idea to reencode a RAW file as a matter of course. Transcode it to process and/or compress it? Sure. But what comes out the other end isn't usually a native RAW file. (native RAW -> DNG workflows don't count.) This assumes that such a thing is even possible: e.g. that all RAW formats they'll see permit an alternate compressed encoding. If they did, someone needs a good stern talking-to. Pretty much the last thing that anyone who uses RAW files would expect is a workflow that tampers with the files while still allegedly remaining in the native RAW format.