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Re: apt-get curiosity



On 28 Feb, Mark Phillips wrote:
> 
> I'm using apt-get, which seems to be downloading stuff quite nicely,
> but there is one thing which I am curious about.
> 
> On the right side of the downloading status line, it says:
> 
>     7h2m21s
> 
> which presumably is the amount of time till it finishes downloading.
> It is happily counting down the seconds from this time, till a while
> later when it gives the new estimate:
> 
>     7h37m46s
> 
> This new estimate happily counts down the seconds for a while, then it
> switches back to the old estimate.  It seems to oscillate between
> these two estimates.
> 
> Now I have two guesses about why this is:
> 
> 1. One is a lower estimate, the other an upper estimate, and the
> display deliberately oscillates between the two.
> 
> 2. This behaviour is a strange quirk of the method used to estimate
> time till completion.
> 
> Which one is it?  Or is there a third explanation?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Mark.
> 
> 
> 
> _/~~~~~~~~\___/~~~~~~\____________________________________________________
> ____/~~\_____/~~\__/~~\__________________________Mark_Phillips____________
> ____/~~\_____/~~\________________________________mark@ist.flinders.edu.au_
> ____/~~\HE___/~~\__/~~\APTAIN_____________________________________________
> ____/~~\______/~~~~~~\____________________________________________________
> __________________________________________________________________________
>         "They told me I was gullible ... and I believed them!" 
> 
> 
> 
> 
I think it does this because it periodicly(sp?) recalculates the time
to d/l based upon the current d/l speed.  Since the speed will vary,
the time may seem to jump back and forth a bit.

HTH,

chris


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