Please note: This will not skip the backend, as it will need at least the reponse headers.
*Hint:*
Use a cron-job like the following to remove old cached data, e.g. in crontab daily:
find /var/cache/lighttpd/cache_etag/ -type f -mtime +2 -exec rm -r {} \;
*Hint:*
Have a look at "mod_deflate":mod_deflate.html#mod_deflate to see this module in action.