Jigdo needs concept work
A proper implementation of Jigdo:
1. It is a GUI program, not a CLI program.
2. Jigdo only asks for a single link. The information at this link
maintained by the head of the system, in this case some link advertised at
debian download page.
"Provide this _link_ when jigdo asks for your online distribution link"
A. A list of everything available for on the distribution network. The
debian network would include all present and past releases of everything
that debian wants to be available. This includes the current release, the
latest patch level, and any previous popular releases. The list would also
be tree structured so if I wanted all 8 CD's of Woody then I could check a
single box and they would all be marked. If there were optional items,
these would be in the same group but may not be checked via the group check.
Downloading to C:\TEMP;d:\|PackageSummary
[x] Debian "Woody" 3.0 Release i386 (8 cd's, 4900MB)
[=]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 1 ISO
[=]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 1 (Non US) ISO
[=]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 2 ISO
[=]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 3 ISO (let's say I already got the
first 3)
[~]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 4 ISO (and part of 4)
[x]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 5 ISO
[x]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 6 ISO
[x]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 7 ISO
--Unix File Groups allow you to not download files available from
earlier downloads
and releases.
( )Generate OS independent ISO files
(-)Generate hard disk folders (not available on your OS)
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 1 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 1 (Non US) Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 2 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 3 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 4 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 5 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 6 Unix File Group
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Release i386 CD 7 Unix File Group
-- Optional Components not by debian.org--
[ ]Debian Power Tools updated for Debian Woody 3.0
[ ]Star Office updated for Debian Woody 3.0
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Stable Beta Release 3.01r1000 (updated 10/06/2002)
..
..
[ ]Debian Woody 3.0 Current Beta Release 3.02r1252 (updated 11/29/2002)
..
..
B. A list of every place where that stuff might be obtained
3. The program then presents me a list of what I have, what I want, and
optionally, presents me a list to limit places to obtain it from.
4. Hit run, and it gets all checked items.
****
Bad things that Jigdo does:
Downloads as files... like unix file names can be represented on other file
systems! This sounds like a trick to ensure that I *don't* get a usable
release unless I'm a *nix buf. A separate FTP session for each file and you
guys think you're saving something. Sounds to me like an ISO will generate
half as much traffic! If you were really clever you'd ZIP the releases to
guarantee delivery.
There are 8 links that I must feed Jigdo to get the Woody release. Each 2
hour wait is rewarded with another request for a link. This takes 16 human
hours and 16 computer hours to get the entire release. Apparently noone
around here has ever heard of batch downloading. With FTP, I hit mark 8
times in a GUI program, hit start, and come back tomorrow morning and see
whether it finished or crashed. When jigdo can meet or beat that standard
it will get more popular. GUI... mark-em-all... download... wake up the
next morning all done!
Ads more than one step. I'm willing to tolerate an additional step or two
for your convenience but 8 steps with 2 hour waits in between, I'll see you
in the next version!
The Jigdo process may have been adapted to other OS but it is clearly
designed for *nix systems. In the future the jigdo lists need to provide
distributed downloading of ISO images too. If it's any more complicated
than download the ISO, burn to CD, it will continue to fly like a lead baloon.
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