Re: MSDOS name conversion
>> By "Debian", I mean the distribution in any form. Not splitting the
>> files "doesn't affect the users' machines except at installation time".
>> If a user is going to go through the trouble to copy all those packages
>> to floppy, then they can go through the trouble to split them first.
>
>Why do this users have to go through more trouble than the rest. This
>is not fair. We want to create a distribution which can be freely copied
>distributed etc., everybody should have acces to the distribution because
>it is a good product. Not being able to transfer via floppy's is a bad
>thing and is not adding to the openness of this project (I mean the
>availability, well you get it I hope?).
First, who ever said life was fair? Second, I don't see how fair means
cluttering up the distribution so a few people can have a slightly easier
time, _once_. That isn't fair to me or anybody else who already has it
installed. Third, it doesn't change the availability. It just changes
the steps required to get it.
>> In fact, with a little extra work, you could write a "split" program
>> that would split files so that every disk was _completely_ full, thus
>> making things _easier_ on the installer than if they were pre-split.
>
>No no. Let me point out my situation. I have acces to a unix machine, with
>a lot of others. I have permission to use 3 mb on that one, and downloading
>emacs.deb and splitting this on that account isn't possible because I
>would need at least 8-9mb. Not all people have a few gigs with a 24hour
>connection to the internet.
It sounds like you have quite a serious limitation, here, but not one
that can't be overcome the same way. Why does "split" have to work on
existing files? Write "split" in perl that uses "ftp.pl" and splits the
stream as it comes down. If you have to FTP one file at a time and then
copy that file to a disk, then you are already in hell. Having "split"
keep the transfer going while you copy it's latest output to disk could
only help you.
>> Probably, but what would you call it? It's not a reward.
>
>The thing I have to do before installing a package that's punishment.
So wouldn't "split" like I described make it easier?
>> Done properly, it would actually make things easier for the user. Split
>> files are just that many more files the user has to copy to floppy. In
>> fact, if the user is to use as few disks as possible, it will be a real
>> pain to match the pieces in the best way possible.
>>
>> A good "split" program could scan the directory to find all .deb files
>> and split them optimally across disks to fully fill each one.
>But you should make this split program available for all platforms, including
>msdos/os2/nt/unix (*)/etc etc.
A perl script would handle most implementations. Not to mention, which of
these platforms don't already have some sort of "split" program? Don't
tell me you're running OS/2 or NT from floppy?
BOTTOM LINE: There are better solutions than splitting the files in the
distribution.
Brian
( bcwhite@bnr.ca )
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In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're not.
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