On Thu, Dec 07, 2006 at 10:07:30AM +1300, Volker Kuhlmann wrote:
> # dpkg -S /usr/bin/md5sum
> dpkg: /usr/bin/md5sum
>
> In this case, that means changing my scripts to do this:
>
* Find out if the system is Debian;
* Use dpkg -S to discover which md5sum program was supplied
* Continue normally if it's GNU
* If not, try to locate 20GB disk, etc
* Or prompt the user to install coreutils
> The first version moves 3 times the amount of data, twice through physical
> hard disk. So I significantly downgrade performance for everyone just
> because of a single retarded distro setup out there, dealing with a problem
So what about the potential distro out there that doesn't even have an
md5sum binary on it, because we're all supposed to be using SHA1
checksums these days? :-)
Writing cross-distro stuff that isn't just "simple" is very difficult.
Perhaps you could package your script for Debian, listing coreutils as
a required dependency? Or include your own private implementation of an
md5 checksum algorithm?
Of course, it's far easier to stamp your feet and call the distro
maintainers childish names. That's bound to motivate them to fix
things for you.
-jim
