On Sun, 4 Jan 2026 12:22:08 +0000 nia <[email protected]> wrote: > Hey, the i386 iso is hitting a 700MB limit again in -current. > This means it does not fit on a CD-ROM. > > An install iso consists of two things, an uncompressed copy of base > used to run the installer and provide a shell, along with compressed > set tarballs containing the full OS that get installed on the target > disk. On i386 these have to be compressed with gzip, otherwise > extraction is too slow (or uses too much RAM) on embedded/low-end > machines.
Hi, I don't agree with the "too slow" argument as long as it can run to eventual completion. The RAM argument should be quantified. How much is too much? xz's default settings may use too much RAM but a quick test suggests xz -1 compresses installation sets better than gzip -9 does and xzcat base.tar.xz (level 1) for me in fact survives a lower ulimit -d setting than gzcat (level 9) does, with both running ok at 512k. Generally speaking, not tested on i386 specifically. I think all the other suggested solutions are good and should be implemented as well, but we should definitely reevaluate if gzip is actually the best choice here. Kind regards, -Tobias
