Re: These new diffs are great, but...
Robert Lemmen <robertle@semistable.com> writes:
> it might be easier to just generate fewer diffs on the server side, if
> there is no matching diff available apt will fall back to using the
> standard method. you will however find out that the size of all diffs
> together is already less than the size of the regular packages file.
The problem for me is not the _size_ or the network bandwidth, it's that
apt seems to spend a lot more _CPU_ (and disk I/O) time dealing with
zillions of diffs -- e.g., it seems to save the updated Packages file to
disk about every 10 downloaded pdiff files or so, and on my machine
saving the Package file takes a good 20 seconds or so. As I've got a
fast network connection, the "pdiff method" ends up being far more
painful because of this behavior if it's been a long time since my last
update.
Of course, I can just disable pdiffs .... but (1) they're actually nice
when I update frequently, and (2) it really ought to do something more
optimal by default -- novice users won't know how to configure stuff.
-Miles
--
It wasn't the Exxon Valdez captain's driving that caused the Alaskan oil spill.
It was yours. [Greenpeace advertisement, New York Times, 25 February 1990]
Reply to: