Software Update
Forum: DSL Ideas and Suggestions
Topic: Software Update
started by: Mechcozmo
Posted by Mechcozmo on Jan. 19 2005,00:26
It seems that more and more people are installing DSL onto USB drives and other rewritable media. Would it be possible to have an app that can patch a DSL install to one of those devices without needing to burn a CD, install to USB drive, etc.And if it is a CD-RW that we are talking about, then you could theoretically swap the CD to RAM, wipe it, and reburn with the new data. All transparent to the user.
And idea if this can be done?
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Jan. 19 2005,02:50
This has already been done, but it only works with frugal installs.Just delete the /KNOPPIX/knoppix file on your frugal and replace it with the one from the new version.
Perhaps I will write a new script to do this...
-J.P.
Posted by clivesay on Jan. 19 2005,02:55
< Here's the answer! >Chris
Posted by clacker on Jan. 19 2005,12:27
I thought Mechcozmo was talking about a patch, not getting everything again and then burning it again on recordable media. Some people don't have high bandwith access and it's a real pain to keep downloading 50 megs every couple of weeks.I also think it would be nice to make a patch, like diff, of only the things that have changed. Then the user could download this smaller patch, and reburn their CD using the changes and deleating what gets deleted.
It would probably mean going through some remastering steps. Make the two source directories for the two versions, then run diff. Save all of those files in the later version that are new in a new directory, and make a list of files that got removed from the new version. Then there would have to be a script to start the rematering process, run the patch into the source directory created, and finish the remastering.
Posted by mikshaw on Jan. 19 2005,12:44
That's an interesting idea, though I don't know how or if it could be done. I can understand a patch system for a harddrive install, but I think if it required remastering for a liveCD most people would rather wait 4-5 hours for the download.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Jan. 19 2005,12:49
John has already said that he has no intention to implement a patch system, because DSL is meant to primarily be a Live-CD distro.You can't patch a live-cd. It just doesn't work that way.
The filesystem of DSL on the CD exists in a single file. It is at /KNOPPIX/knoppix.
Currently it is at 47.something MB.
So that means that every patch would be the size of that file, since it is usually the only thing that changes.
And you can see why that wouldn't work any better than just downloading the new iso, right?
Even with dialup, 50mb is not that big. My first attraction to DSL was that it would only take about 2 nights to download, compared to 14-16 for Knoppix, and 3 or 4 times that for Mandrake (which I still downloaded, it took me almost 2 months!).
I could download 40mb in 8 hrs, and my connection had a session limit of, you guessed it, 8 hrs. So it would take a good chunk of that second night, because you couldn't browse, check email, or anything while it was going, or you'd lose the connection to the ftp server due to timeout. Our ping was that high.
And we had recently hit a new connection speed record. A blazingly fast 25.2 kbp/s. 21.4 was our average speeed before that. We downloaded at 1-2k/s. And it was fast. So those of you with 56k connections were faster than me until very recently. And sometimes you're still faster O_o.
-J.P.
Posted by davide on Jan. 19 2005,13:59
you are VERY committed to DSL!hours for downloading! that deserves a mention!
Posted by clacker on Jan. 19 2005,15:08
| Quote |
| John has already said that he has no intention to implement a patch system, because DSL is meant to primarily be a Live-CD distro. |
That's that. I didn't know.
| Quote |
| The filesystem of DSL on the CD exists in a single file. It is at /KNOPPIX/knoppix. Currently it is at 47.something MB. So that means that every patch would be the size of that file, since it is usually the only thing that changes. And you can see why that wouldn't work any better than just downloading the new iso, right? |
I'm not that dumb. I understood that a patch would need to replace the whole file if you only patched the base CD. I was talking about remastering and then patching based on changes, where the patch would change files.
If I had bothered to download another 50 Megs, why wouldn't I just rewrite over what I had? But if two days of no computer, no mail, and no telephone are OK, then I can't see any problem.
Hey you guys are in change, do whatever you want.
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Jan. 19 2005,16:07
I wasn't implying that you were.That was really for the newbs that come in and don't undestand how it works.
I apologise if you were insulted. ~_~
-J.P.
Posted by ke4nt1 on Jan. 19 2005,16:41
DSL releases the distro every 3-4 weeks on average.In that 30 days or so, Both John and Robert are nearly
round-the-clock testing,changing,rechecking,retesting,etc.
It's a very disciplined and time consuming process to even
pre-release test all the different install types and configurations.
Factor that by the amount of varied hardware the pre-releases
get tested on , for each type of install, and you can see how
forward progress in the development stage is all-consuming timewise ...
Adding R&D time into making a "patch" would be as involved as
the usual development tree as far as testing and pre-release goes.
This would slow down development, and create more support
issues for people not being able to use the patch for whatever
reasons.. DSL is so flexible, and installed so many ways, that
a "simple" upgrade patch that works for every type of install -
guaranteed - would be a task in itself..
Many folks, especially new users, do not have the skills to
remaster DSL, and possibly not the hardware/drivespace either..
If someone doesn't want to download the .iso every 3-4 weeks,
perhaps they should subscribe to a yearly subscription of
DSL sent by mail. That would help support the developers as well.
73
ke4nt
Posted by SaidinUnleashed on Jan. 19 2005,19:49
| Quote |
| perhaps they should subscribe to a yearly subscription of DSL sent by mail. |
You can do that?! I didn't know we could do that!
Is there a link to this? I wonder how much it costs.
I'll have to scrounge up a few $$ after I send clivesay his stuff.
-J.P.