On Thu 07 Dec 2006 09:22:11 NZDT +1300, Matthew Gregan wrote: > > 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? > > Not sure what you're referring to here.
It is reasonable to expect the program called md5sum which is in $PATH by default to have a certain set of characteristics. One has to, otherwise no programming is sensibly possible. Now someone decided to replace this program with an incompatible (-v, output to stderr) and cut-down version, when compared with the version which has been commonly found on Linux systems for years, and possibly outside of Linux too. This is a no-no!! I could understand if there was a good reason, but 9kb disk space is most definitely not a good reason. Or in other words: why does Debian (otherwise GNU-everything) replace GNU md5sum with some non-GNU version (at least in some cases)? But that was the "interest" question. The real question was how to get a usable GNU md5sum onto a Debian box which doesn't have it (other than using mv or cp of course)? What are the circumstances under which the non-GNU one gets installed, and therefore how can I avoid it? > Cheers, +1 Volker -- Volker Kuhlmann is list0570 with the domain in header http://volker.dnsalias.net/ Please do not CC list postings to me.
