On Fri, 07 Apr 2000, dcalford wrote:
> Hi Richard
>
> Richard Wackerbarth wrote:
> > Why is this better than a package loader which determines the
> > dependancies and downloads all the missing files?
>
> That assumes that the package loader has access to the net.
Well, if you don't have connectivity, how are you going to download even one
file?
> Many machines first need the packages to be manually downloaded onto a
> local net or onto a zip or series of floppy's
I will acknowledge that you may be doing the download on some machine other
than the target.
However, downloading a directory which has the pieces you need is not
that much more difficult than downloading a file or two.
If you have a slow link, eliminating the duplication may be quite important.
> The package loader assumes the machine has some form of connection to the
> net or a central repository where all the files may reside.
So does any other scheme.
> This is still
> the minority of machines in the world. Alot of people still are in areas
> that net connections are rare and they need to copy files onto zip disks
> for transfer to thier home machines.
> The idea of having to download 700+ MB of packages just in case you may
> need one for the one program you need to run is foolish, but for 90% of
> users, thier only choice because they do not have the time to learn better.
So what we need is a dynamic site that creates custom directories of the
parts needed.
There is no way we can solve the problem of the individual who has no idea
what he wants. For example, do I want "GNOME" or is "KDE" sufficient?
Unless that user is prepared to make a few iterations, his only real solution
is to get everything. That's what the CD sets are good for.
Now, I can see a facility that allows you to generate a description of the
target machine (present and desired) and upload it to obtain the custom
directory of needed files. This would also work with a web interface that
allows you to choose what you want.
Basically, I am advocating running the package manager on the remote server.
