Bug#531079: RFS: ecm -- prepares CD image files so they compress better
Hi Loïc,
> I am looking for a sponsor for my package "ecm"
>
> * Package name : ecm
> Version : 1.00
> Upstream Author : Neill Corlett <neill@neillcorlet.com>
> * URL : http://www.neillcorlett.com/ecm/
> * License : GPL2+
> Programming Lang: C
> Description : prepares CD image files so they compress better
I had a quick look at your package and did not find a problem, though I
would have to give it a closer look before upload.
Unfortunately, ecm seems to have a problem with files larger than 2 or 4
GB (I tried the 1st Debian Lenny DVD). I ended up with a file of size
381 MB :-((. I'm aware that ecm does not claim to handle DVD images, but
it also does not refuse to handle them. I consider this a grave bug
(data loss).
I did another test with the first Debian Etch CD. ecm reduced the size
of the image by 0.03%. Compressing the original ISO and the ecm-prepared
version with bzip2 gave a 0.097% advantage for the ecm-prepared version.
Do you have any number where ecm shows a reasonable gain?
Don't most CDs/DVDs contain data (software, music, video) that is
already compressed in one way or another? Therefore I would guess that
removing some very small amount of hard-to-compress data doesn't improve
the overall situation.
For these reasons I'm currently inclined not to sponsor this package.
Also, ecm-prepared/compressed images don't seem to be widespread as far
as I can say (and the software is 7 years old).
Joachim
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