On Tue, Nov 25, 2014 at 03:40:06PM +0000, Steve McIntyre wrote: > Apt guys, how much effort would it be to add an extra package source > (derived from cdrom), called apt-usb or similar?
The apt-cdrom code is practically unmaintained, so if anyone is really interested in any improvements in that area: Now (modulo jessie, so maybe in a few weeks instead) would be a good time to get active… That said: Where available apt-cdrom is using udev to figure out mountpoints. Currently, it is looking for CDROMs only, but setting APT::cdrom::CdromOnly to false should tell it to look for any mountpoints which are "removable" instead. I further see some code using ".disk/" with a comment starting with "if we are on a writable medium (like a usb-stick)" so I presume this could already work, but I have never tried.¹ This says nothing about systems where udev isn't available (for various reasons) of course and as said, it is practically unmaintained, so at least I am not flipping any default value in code I only touch for one reason: d-i breaks because I have changed something """unrelated""". The best approach might be to move apt-cdrom to apt-transport-cdrom (it is currently a bit entangled with other code, but removing this is not the worst idea anyhow) and finding maintainer(s) for it. These can probably come up with a way better name than "cdrom" as well. All I can come up with is "removable" which has a slightly different meaning for me if its attached to code. ;) (As usual, if you are said volunteer feel free to contact me (or better yet deity@) and we will do what we can to help you out; I just want to make cristal clear that we don't have the resources to do it ourselves). Best regards David Kalnischkies ¹ well, we have a testcase which works with cdrom sources which obviously doesn't need to burn and mount a test cd, so I am pretty sure that the using part works. I am just not too sure about udev, mounting, multidisks, interaction with d-i (and others) and similar "details"…
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