I previously posted that I found discrepancies in the MD5s with 3.0 r2 ISO contents:
http://lists.debian.org/debian-cd/2004/debian-cd-200401/msg00089.html I haven't seen any follow-up or any notes added to http://www.debian.org/CD/ on this matter. Having successfully completed a few installations using these CDs, I can confirm that the discrepancies, as suspected, appear to be harmless, and that the md5sum.txt file included on disk 1 is probably wrong. I still think it would be a good idea (assuming my observations are confirmed) to add a note to http://www.debian.org/CD/. In my previous post I also wrote: > It'd be handy to be able to check the MD5 of the ISO images, but > there doesn't appear to be an md5sum.txt distributed with the > mirrored images, or posted on http://www.debian.org/CD/. I did eventually run across a link to a file containing this information: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/jigdo/3.0_r2/i386/MD5SUMS It seems like it would be a good idea to distribute it in the same directory as the ISO images, in addition to it being placed with the jigdo files. The CD FAQ: http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#which-cd says: > Which of the numerous CD images should I download? Do I need all of > them? > [...] > ...in most cases it is not necessary to download all of the images > for your architecture. The packages on the CDs are sorted by > popularity... In retrospect, I see this same information is mentioned in the main installation manual: http://www.debian.org/releases/stable/i386/ch-install-methods.en.html > 4.1 Official Debian GNU/Linux CD-ROM Sets > [...] > Although a full set of binary packages comprises of seven or more > CDs, it is unlikely you will need packages on the third CD and > above. but I seem to have missed this brief, but important note, and I didn't look at the CD FAQ until I had already downloaded and burnt most of the ISO images. In my actual installation experience, I never ended up using anything beyond the first CD (to bring up a base web/mail/file server). I'd recommend giving this point higher visibility. Specifically, there are numerous mentions of jigdo and attempts to steer people towards that solution to minimize impact on the mirrors, but if most people realized they only needed the first CD (unless they were installing on a machine with no possible connection to the Internet) and only downloaded the first ISO, that too would reduce impact (providing they use a tool that can resume downloads). I'd probably start by mentioning that you only need the first CD in most cases, and then recommend jigdo as the preferred solution when downloading multiple CDs. In addition to the installation manual and the CD FAQ, good places to reiterate this point include: http://www.debian.org/distrib/cd http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/ http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Debian-Jigdo/whyjigdo.html On http://www.debian.org/CD/faq/#why-jigdo it says: > Why should I use this "jigdo" program? I prefer a simple HTTP or FTP > download! > [...] > Do not be afraid to try out jigdo! The complex process of generating > the CD image is completely hidden from you... This argument didn't win me over. I read a fair bit about jigdo (the mini-HOWTO) before deciding not to use it. Primarily I was interested in determining whether additional disk space would be required, as I was planning to download the files on a machine that had just barely enough space to hold one ISO. It didn't sound like jigdo was a good choice in that case. More importantly, the multi stage process described sounded more complex than necessary, though not having tried it, I can't say whether it is. If I hadn't have had the disk space limitations, I probably still wouldn't have used it for this reason, especially not if I knew I only needed to download one ISO. More recently I ran across jigdo-easy (http://www.uk.debian.org/~costar/jigdo/), which seems to address this, but it isn't as easy to find and isn't mentioned on http://www.debian.org/CD/jigdo-cd/. -Tom __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/
