Re: magazine packagine (was Re: Bug#181860: ITP: phrack-issueXX -- Phrack Magazine Issues)

[Steve Greenland <steveg@moregruel.net>]

On 21-Feb-03, 11:35 (CST), Kevin Rosenberg <kevin@rosenberg.net> wrote: 
> That's an interesting thought. One disadvantage of a archive of issues
> is that it would have to be redownloaded everytime an a new issue is
> added to the archive. Though separate issues do increase the size of
> the Packages file, they reduce the need to download updates to
> multi-megabyte archives.

Everybody[1] is downloading the Packages file on a regular basis, while
only a small fraction of those are downloading the LG or other magazine
issues.

> Web browsers are fine if you have an fast, persistent internet
> connection. I often travel with my laptop without network
> connectivity.

So therefore Debian should package the web? If you forsaw the need
sufficiently to have installed the LG or whatever issues, why couldn't
you have downloaded the originals instead?

I've heard this argument before, and I just don't buy it. If "packaging"
consists solely of adjusting the layout of a existing archive, I think
we ought to be very skeptical. 

Whatever happened to the proposed "data" archive?

Steve

[1] Okay, not everybody, but probably most Debian users.



-- 
Steve Greenland
    The irony is that Bill Gates claims to be making a stable operating
    system and Linus Torvalds claims to be trying to take over the
    world.       -- seen on the net