Date: Tue, 8 Apr 1997 11:25:52 +0100
Message-Id: <199704081025.LAA00964@debian.dd.com>
From: tom@lpsg.demon.co.uk
Subject: dpkg-ftp: does not support experimental or non-US distributions
To: submit@bugs.debian.org

Package: dpkg-ftp
Version: 1.4.8

Two slightly different problems.

First, dpkg-ftp cannot be told about the experimental distribution. It chokes
saying it can't find the project/experimental/binary-i386 directory, which
doesn't and shouldn't exist. experimental does have a Packages file, so it
would be useful to be able to see this distribution with dpkg-ftp.

Secondly, dpkg-ftp does not support the use of subdirectories (the naming of
the package files goes wrong). This would appear with experimental, but it
does not get this far. However, it does happen with non-US. On the mirror
site I use (ftp.mcc.ac.uk), there are mirrors of both standard and non-US
Debian distributions.

The standard is in /pub/linux/distributions/Debian, and the non-US is in
/pub/linux/distributions/Debian-non-US. I have tried both of the following
configurations:-

	Root=/pub/linux/distributions
	Distributions=Debian/unstable Debian/non-free Debian/contrib
		Debian-non-US

	Root=/pub/linux/distributions/Debian
	Distributions=unstable non-free contrib ../Debian-non-US

Neither works, although both manage to verify the directories, and download
the Packages files.

IMHO, the best way to handle these distributions is to allow the user to
specify distribution names, and the directories they can be found in
separately, e.g.

	Root=/pub/linux/distributions/Debian
	Distributions=unstable non-free contrib experimental:project/experimental
		non-US:../Debian-non-US

But the default directories work the same way the current version does.

-- System Information
Debian Release: 1.2
Kernel Version: Linux debian 2.1.29 #15 Tue Apr 1 18:00:20 BST 1997 i486 unknown

Versions of the packages dpkg-ftp depends on:
perl	Version: 5.003.07-3
dpkg	Version: 1.4.0.10
libnet	Version: 1.01-3