RPM is great ... I use it on my Redhat box. I don't use it on my
slackware box ... or my home-grown no distribution box. Can't.
It doesn't know what's installed. ( Yes, I know, I could override
dependencies ... but really, does that argue for it being an optimal
distribution format? )
--- There is a party that | Libertarian Party | A victimless crime is supports the right to | http://www.lp.org | a contradiction in free speach and | The Party of | terms. encryption!! | Principal |On Sun, 4 Apr 1999, Chris Ricker wrote:
> On Sun, 4 Apr 1999, Alex Buell wrote: > > > The 1.55 release: > > ftp://ftp.uk.linux.org/pub/linux/sct/quota/quota-1.55-10.i386.rpm > > ftp://ftp.uk.linux.org/pub/linux/sct/quota/quota-1.55-10.src.rpm > > > > WHY IS THIS ONLY IN RPM FORMAT?! Please could we have a tarball of the > > sources!! I am not downloading RPM just to get at the sources! (Yes, I > > checked in the ftp server) > > First, FYI, rpm's do not require that you install rpm software. They're just > cpio archives + a header. Use perl, ed, or whatever to strip off the > header, then extract the cpio [1]. If you get the .src.rpm, the cpio should > be a tarball of the original source, plus a patch file or two of Stephen's > changes to actually make it work. Grab that, strip it, extract it, explode > the tarball and apply the patches, and you should be set. > > Furthermore, don't you think you're being just a tad bit petulant? It's in > RPM because the author (Stephen Tweedie, I think) chose to do it that way. > "He who writes the code gets to make the rules." It's not like he posted it > in rot-13, uuencoded, and then binhex4 or something absurd like that--rpm is > a fairly standard Linux file format, particularly given that he's a RH > employee. > > If my recollection is right, the quota package was at one point in the > development cycle basically not being maintained (either the maintainer was > swamped with other work, or MIA, or unknown, or whatever--the quota software > is just a linux port of the *BSD quota stuff, so it's not even like there's > a definite author per se). It also needed to be updated because it broke > badly with quotas over 4 gigs. Stephen probably didn't want to become the > maintainer, so he just added a patch to the rpm to provide support for > larger quotas, and then was nice enough to put the package on his ftp site > for everyone instead of just leaving it on ftp://updates.redhat.com/ for > only Red Hat users to find. > > Since that time, somone else has started actively maintaining the quota > package, and they've added some additional support to it that helps with > quotas over knfs and such, so I've been meaning to update the Changes file > to mention that. However, I've been having a really hard time getting > patches accepted, so it hasn't gotten updated.... > > Hit ftp.cistron.nl/pub/people/mvw/ for the current package. I think it's up > to 1.70, but 1.65 is really all you need, and only then if you're doing > quotas over knfs. Otherwise, 1.55 is fine (either the unpatched if you > don't have quotas for any users over 4 gig, or patched if you do). > However, I think 1.70 fixes the problems that were discussed on bugtraq a > while ago, so it might be worth getting for that reason as well. It's the > version I use, anyway. > > > Finally, I think the Changes file should have each particular part of the > > system attributed to a specific author so I can email them directly > > instead of posting to the list. > > I'll keep it in mind for 2.3, if I bother to keep doing the Changes file. > > later, > chris > > [1] http://www.eleves.ens.fr:8080/home/espel/rpm2cpio has a perl script > already written for you > > -- > Chris Ricker kaboom@gatech.edu > chris.ricker@m.cc.utah.edu > Politics and the fate of mankind are formed by men > without ideals and without greatness. Those who have > greatness within them do not go in for politics. > -- Albert Camus > > > - > To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu > Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/ >
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