Re: rsync vs FTP/HTTP
On 7 May 2001, Daniel Garcia wrote:
> As I sit here creating my ISO image using rsync I think, "Why don't all
> the debian mirrors simply carry the ISO image instead of the file
> distribution?" Most *NIX implementations have a method to mount an ISO
> image as a filesystem, like a loopback mount. So a server could serve up
> the ISO image and the filesystem distribution with only the ISO image
> stored locally on disk. So everybody would become an ISO distributer!!
it's a nice idea, but it does add a bit of complexity to it for the following
reasons
o not every mirror is in a position to make loopback stuff available - e.g
some mirrors use nfs and issues start to get complex with loopback and nfs.
o the debian archive is not consistent with the "snapshot" that is 2.2r3 as
far as i understand it - things are always being updated, deleted and generally
the current archive won't match the iso images exactly
o most sites carrying the iso images are already full debian mirrors.. with
pseudo image kit, they are effectively iso distributors for people who want
to do that - e.g the amount of traffic to create all the isos via PIK2 is
pretty much excactly the same as downloading an ISO itself. some people
are just more comfortable with not trying to understand PIK2/rsync..
to be honest, maybe i don't understand the problem, or exactly what your
solution is. debian doesn't appear to be like redhat in terms of having
a distribution that changes in steps (someone correct me if i'm wrong).. it
seems to keep evolving with essentially "patches" being rolled straight into
the distribution trees to be dynamically updated with apt*
regards,
-jason
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