Report forwarded to debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org, awpguy@acs.ucalgary.ca (Andy W.P. Guy):
Bug#9086; Package dpkg-ftp.   debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.orgawpguy@acs.ucalgary.ca (Andy W.P. Guy)  Subject: Bug#9086: dpkg-ftp: downloaded hierarchy should mirror ftp hierarchy Reply-To: swift@alum.mit.edu, 9086@bugs.debian.org Resent-From: Resent-To: debian-bugs-dist@lists.debian.org Resent-CC: awpguy@acs.ucalgary.ca (Andy W.P. Guy) Resent-Date: Sat, 26 Apr 1997 03:33:04 GMT Resent-Message-ID: Resent-Sender: iwj@debian.org X-Debian-PR-Package: dpkg-ftp X-Debian-PR-Keywords: X-Loop: owner@bugs.debian.org Received: via spool by bugs@bugs.debian.org id=B.86202558426734 (code B ref -1); Sat, 26 Apr 1997 03:33:04 GMT Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:32:37 -0400 Message-Id: <199704260332.XAA03416@localhost.bu.edu> From: To: submit@bugs.debian.org X-Mailer: bug 2.93 Package: dpkg-ftp Version: 1.4.8 If the downloaded hierarchy in /var/lib/dpkg/methods/ftp (or ../debian) mirrored the ftp hierarchy, then the downloaded hierarchy could serve as the source hierarchy for dpkg on another machine. It's ALMOST this way now, a few changes that seem trivial and it would work. Scenario: I downloaded much of Debian 1.3 for my desktop via dpkg-ftp. I kept the files around, knowing I would soon install a subset of these packages on my laptop. I connect my laptop via a cable to my desktop. If my suggestion were followed, I could then run dpkg on my laptop using my desktop as the source via an nfs or ftp method. With a bigger LAN this is a bigger win. dpkg-ftp is a very convenient way to selectively mirror the Debian ftp site, but it isn't quite mirroring it. A further suggestion would be to make the .deb-file integrity checks more efficient by not repeating them unnecesarily, perhaps by keeping track of md5-sums or timestamps so that if you decide to keep a lot of packages around you don't have to check their integrity every time you run dselect. -- System Information Debian Release: 1.3 Kernel Version: Linux localhost 2.0.30 #1 Thu Apr 24 13:34:49 EDT 1997 i586 unknown Versions of the packages dpkg-ftp depends on: perl Version: 5.003.07-10 dpkg Version: 1.4.0.8 libnet Version: 1.01-3   Acknowledgement sent to swift@alum.mit.edu:
New bug report received and forwarded. Copy sent to awpguy@acs.ucalgary.ca (Andy W.P. Guy).   -t  From: owner@bugs.debian.org (Ian Jackson) To: swift@alum.mit.edu Subject: Bug#9086: Acknowledgement (was: dpkg-ftp: downloaded hierarchy should mirror ftp hierarchy) Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <199704260332.XAA03416@localhost.bu.edu> References: <199704260332.XAA03416@localhost.bu.edu> Thank you for the problem report you have sent regarding Debian Linux. This is an automatically generated reply, to let you know your message has been received. It is being forwarded to the developers' mailing list for their attention; they will reply in due course. Your message has been sent to the package maintainer(s): awpguy@acs.ucalgary.ca (Andy W.P. Guy) If you wish to submit further information on your problem, please send it to 9086@bugs.debian.org (and *not* to bugs@bugs.debian.org). Please do not reply to the address at the top of this message, unless you wish to report a problem with the bug-tracking system. Ian Jackson (maintainer, Debian bug tracking system)   Received: (at submit) by bugs.debian.org; 26 Apr 1997 03:33:04 +0000 Received: (qmail 26728 invoked from network); 26 Apr 1997 03:33:02 -0000 Received: from ppp-87-32.bu.edu (HELO localhost.bu.edu) (128.197.8.244) by master.debian.org with SMTP; 26 Apr 1997 03:33:01 -0000 Received: (from swift@localhost) by localhost.bu.edu (8.8.5/8.8.5) id XAA03416; Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:32:37 -0400 Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 23:32:37 -0400 Message-Id: <199704260332.XAA03416@localhost.bu.edu> From: Subject: dpkg-ftp: downloaded hierarchy should mirror ftp hierarchy To: submit@bugs.debian.org X-Mailer: bug 2.93 Reply-to: swift@alum.mit.edu Package: dpkg-ftp Version: 1.4.8 If the downloaded hierarchy in /var/lib/dpkg/methods/ftp (or ../debian) mirrored the ftp hierarchy, then the downloaded hierarchy could serve as the source hierarchy for dpkg on another machine. It's ALMOST this way now, a few changes that seem trivial and it would work. Scenario: I downloaded much of Debian 1.3 for my desktop via dpkg-ftp. I kept the files around, knowing I would soon install a subset of these packages on my laptop. I connect my laptop via a cable to my desktop. If my suggestion were followed, I could then run dpkg on my laptop using my desktop as the source via an nfs or ftp method. With a bigger LAN this is a bigger win. dpkg-ftp is a very convenient way to selectively mirror the Debian ftp site, but it isn't quite mirroring it. A further suggestion would be to make the .deb-file integrity checks more efficient by not repeating them unnecesarily, perhaps by keeping track of md5-sums or timestamps so that if you decide to keep a lot of packages around you don't have to check their integrity every time you run dselect. -- System Information Debian Release: 1.3 Kernel Version: Linux localhost 2.0.30 #1 Thu Apr 24 13:34:49 EDT 1997 i586 unknown Versions of the packages dpkg-ftp depends on: perl Version: 5.003.07-10 dpkg Version: 1.4.0.8 libnet Version: 1.01-3