On Mon, 27 Dec 1999, Pixel wrote:
< Again the iso 2 seems bad...
>
> i'll redo one soon.
I would discourage the maintaining of iso CD images as a distribution method
of a changing set of software in favour of maintaining a hd image and we
clients using wget or mirror to catch the updates dynamically at minimum
cost, since both tools recognise changes by timestamp and size and only
download differences. mirror has the further advantage that it can also
delete files from the client if they have been removed from the server.
The first trouble with doing an iso is that the entire thing (640 Mb, which is
between 35 and 53 hours at V90, ie over 2 full 24 hour days and mights) must
be re-downloaded even for the slightest update. This exceeds the maximum
monthly download for most ISP accounts, so becomes very costly.
The second trouble is that you have been updating the iso without
simultaneously updating all the file-oriented mirrors. This is not
excusable.
Better still, why do you not provide an rsync server? Mandrake
includes the rsync client. This has the advantage of incremental update,
even within a file, and compressed download. Your job then becomes just
updating files on the master rsync site (and its mirrors).
Persons requiring CDs must in any case have the necessary 640Mb to download
the ISO image, so why not download the files image instead and install from
hd? Going to CD makes no sense at all, so it follows that an iso image makes
no sense at all. Right?
--
Regards,
Ron. [AU] - sent by Linux.
