[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Please test gzip -9n - related to dpkg with multiarch support



On 07.02.2012 18:07, Joey Hess wrote:
> Neil Williams wrote:
>> I'd like to ask for some help with a bug which is tripping up my tests
>> with the multiarch-aware dpkg from experimental - #647522 -
>> non-deterministic behaviour of gzip -9n.
> 
> pristine-tar hat tricks[1] aside, none of gzip, bzip2, xz are required
> to always produce the same compressed file for a given input file, and I
> can tell you from experience that there is a wide amount of variation. If
> multiarch requires this, then its design is at worst broken, and at
> best, there will be a lot of coordination pain every time there is a
> new/different version of any of these that happens to compress slightly
> differently.

This seems to be a rather common problem as evindenced by e.g.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/clutter-1.0/+bug/901522
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/libtasn1-3/+bug/889303
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/oneiric/+source/pam/+bug/871083

In Ubuntu they started to work-around that by excluding random files
from being compressed. So far I refused to add those hacks to the Debian
package as this needs to be addressed properly.

Michael

-- 
Why is it that all of the instruments seeking intelligent life in the
universe are pointed away from Earth?

Attachment: signature.asc
Description: OpenPGP digital signature


Reply to: