Re: sarge first i386 CD musings
On Fri, 2003-07-25 at 23:45, Rafael Poveda ..:: [ RaveN ] ::.. wrote:
> At 21:29 25/07/2003 +0200, Attila Nagy wrote:
> >Josip Rodin wrote:
> >>Ohh. Hmm. And just as I rm'ed the generated .iso I had mounted to see if the
> >>image was all right (and under 650 MB -- it was 641). Oh well, I'll do it
> >>again.
> >Just a quick question: in Hungary it is impossible to buy a 74 minutes
> >writable CD (650 MB) even in CD-RW version. The "default" is now 700 MB/80
> >min. with strange capacities emerging (like the 1 GB CD-R, I don't know
> >how well can one store data on them, also I wouldn't place my life on a CD
> >which were written at 52X speed, but that's another story).
> >
> >So why should a CD be under 650 MB these days?
>
>
> I think it's Debian's policy. Debian is for everybody. It's open. It's
> free. And everybody can read a 650 MB CD (It doesn't mind if they have a
> last-generation DVD or a 2x CD-ROM). And you can write it in a 700MB CD-R
> (or bigger).
>
> 6 o 7 cd-pack? It doesn't really mind (i think).
It's probably just something to keep an eye on - the situation will
change within the next year or so.
Currently I find that buying quality CD-Rs in bulk (10,000 at a time)
the price differential between 74 and 80 minute blanks has pretty much
disappeared, with the result that everyone buys the 80s and so the 74s
aren't readily available. I suspect that production of them has
stopped. Doubtless there are still a large number of 74s in the retail
supply chain (especially of the nameless brands) and so they aren't
going to disappear of the computer store shelves immediately.
Whilst a random purchase at anyone's local store is still likely to come
up with 74 minute CDs, the Debian images should stick to that size to
maximize availability. (We don't want yet another "Why can't I make a
working Debian CD?" question added to the list.), but equally there's no
point in sticking to the old limit once it becomes obsolete. It isn't
obsolete yet but it will be in (I would estimate) less than a year. The
question wants revisiting in, say, 6 months and once the 74s are gone
then the image size should be increased.
John
--
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