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Re: package servers inconsistent?



Matt Zimmerman wrote:
> 
> On Mon, Apr 30, 2001 at 08:50:06PM +0200, Harald Dunkel wrote:
> 
> > Is it possible to keep an eye upon package consistency on the
> > hosts 'http.us.debian.org'?
> >
> > Each time I run 'apt-get update', some of the package lists on my
> > machine seem to be outdated, even if the last update has been done
> > just a few jiffies ago. But usually the following 'apt-get ugrade'
> > fails due to missing packages.
> >
> > I have to repeat this procedure several times until the upgrade can
> > be completed successfully. Sometimes this doesn't work at all.
> > I tried to install a caching proxy, but this did not help.
> 
> This happens because the Packages files on the mirrors are updated before all
> of the .debs have been transferred.  The errors are transient, and only happen
> during the mirror updates.  It is probably more trouble than it is worth to try
> to fix this. 

Maybe its too difficult to provide consistent package files for the short window 
while the mirror updates are running. No cons.

But is it possible to set some kind of flag to indicate that I am probably 
downloading just some inconsistent files and that I should wait till the 
update of the mirror is complete? I have no problem with waiting, but 
currently I can just try and check whether there was an error.

> The solution would involve syncing all new .debs (without
> deleting any), then updating the Packages files, then removing the old .debs.
> This has the nice side effect of ensuring that things are consistent even if
> the update is interrupted, but would consume a lot of additional mirror space
> during the updates, and complicate the process.
> 
> Another "solution" would be to remove the Packages files during the update, but
> I think almost everyone would rather have an inconsistent Packages file than
> none at all.
> 

Sorry, but this is not true. An inconstistent package file (i.e. a database of
packages that might be no longer available) is of no use. If the package file
doesn't exist I know that something is going on and that I should try again
later.


Regards

Harri



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