On Sun, Sep 03, 2000 at 03:15:10PM +0600, Sergey I. Golod wrote: > Hello. > > Why apt/dpkg doesn't use bzip2 for Packages file? > > -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 749427 Sep 3 00:56 Packages.bz2 > -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1024180 Sep 3 00:56 Packages.gz > > It's about 25% can be saved in download.
Historical reasons - bzip2 is newer than gzip, and didn't exist when the choice was made. Standards reasons - gzip is essential: yes on Debian, and is required for dpkg anyway. bzip2 is still priority optional, and it hasn't gained enough usage through other channels to be raised to standard. Speed reasons - gzip is significantly faster than bzip2, which matters for old ix86 (x=3,4) and m68k machines which run Debian. -- David Starner - [EMAIL PROTECTED] http/ftp: dvdeug.net.dhis.org It was starting to rain on the night that they cried forever, It was blinding with snow on the night that they screamed goodbye. - Dio, "Rock and Roll Children"
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