On Fri, Jan 03, 2020 at 11:16:29PM +0000, Brian wrote: [...] > > Debian can deal simply with repositories on multiple sites. > > Why not deal similarly with repositories on multiple files? > > Each repository that apt deals with on a site is a unified, coherent, > organised, single repository. When you find a way of dealing with the > discrete repository on each ISO, please let us know. *And* -- not to be forgotten, the file systems the packages reside in are *all mounted, all the time* (although they're probably something else than ISO). Is there a pattern? Sorry if it sounds a bit sarcastic. It was somewhat tongue-in-cheek admittedly, although not really in bad intention. Richard, an ISO file system is a *file system*. The intended way to access its innards is mounting it. And... the story of user-mounting is admittedly a bit incomplete at the moment. Mounting a file system is a somewhat dangerous operation, because file system code is fiendishly complex, and due to historical reasons (changing a storage device required screwdrivers not a long ago) mounting a file system was considered to be Something For The Admin (TM). But we're getting there. Getting it wrong leads to a never-ending sitcom, as Microsoft has shown (remember boot sector virus? remember those music CDs by Sony BMG which installed a malw --eh-- driver on your Windows computer which controlled the number of copies you could make of things? Remember Stuxnet, whose vector into some highly secured uranium enrichment plant reportedly were USB sticks?). Those are but three randomly chosen sequences of a long chain of pain. So I'm glad we're moving somewhat slowly in that area. But I disgress. Cheers -- tomás
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