Crazy - the default package installed for me was coreutils socks:~# dpkg -S /usr/bin/md5sum coreutils: /usr/bin/md5sum
Which works like the GNU version you describe Volker... socks:~# echo testing Volker | md5sum d7d6e8358ff6473ce0cf028071bf28b0 - socks:~# echo testing Volker | md5sum - d7d6e8358ff6473ce0cf028071bf28b0 - socks:~# md5sum --version md5sum (GNU coreutils) 5.97 .... However there is also a package in (testing and unstable) named isomd5sum (and a python version named python-pyisomd5sum) http://packages.debian.org/testing/misc/isomd5sum It provides implantisomd5 and checkisomd5 but no md5sum. What other package name are you referring to Volker? -----Original Message----- From: Volker Kuhlmann [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, 7 December 2006 8:29 a.m. To: [email protected] Subject: Debian's md5sum I'm having a bit of bother with Debian's md5sum program. At first I thought they shipped a stoneage version, but no, they deliberately ship a /usr/bin/md5sum which barfs on --version and --help arguments (interesting for a militantly GNU-everything Linux, oops I mean GNU/Linux), doesn't take "-" as argument for stdin or stdout (which GNU programs typically do, although it's non-standard), and most importantly, is unable to check stdin. I am trying to write shell scripts so they work on any distro. For that, --version and --help are irrelevant, use of "-" can be avoided. When creating a checksum for stdin, that md5sum correctly writes "-" as filename (probably as per RFC), but for checking the data from stdin, the checksum must be read from a file - and it promptly complains md5sum: can't open - i.e. it can't find the file named "-". D'oh. This /usr/bin/md5sum is part of the dpkg package. There is a proper GNU md5sum as part of some other package (it's not totally sure which due to the large number of v = vapour packages here). Question 1: What is the official way to put a usable /usr/bin/md5sum into place on Debian? Googling results in gazillion hitting everything else. Interest question 2: Why does someone put a retarded key shell program into a default system place to save 9344 bytes, yes ninethousandandafew bytes(!) of disk space? I am increasingly intolerant with people who for a gain of nothing (9kb disk space equals nothing) waste everyone's time (investigating problems, trying to find workarounds, ...). If dpkg needs its own md5sum, then the obvious technical solution is to use a /usr/bin/md5sum-dpkg-retarded and a proper /usr/bin/md5sum.
