Debian Wheezy To Take Up 73 CDs Or 11 DVDs

[DeepDayze]

Does apt even support installing more then one deb at a time?

you can install more than one package at once in the same command as root:

# apt-get install package1 package2 package3

or to install more than 1 deb you have already downloaded (as long as dependencies are met already)

# dpkg -i package1.deb package2.deb package3.deb

[masinick]

apt-get is limited only by the number of parameters the command line interpreter can handle. Of course, if you have THAT MANY packages to install, a dist-upgrade or passing the packages directly to dpkg in small groups might be a better approach (and I know of some cool tools that some developers have created that do precisely that).

But for instance, apt-get install lynx links links2 elinks gedit gksu gmpc
as an example, would be fine.

[AJenbo]

the current packaging system first requires that its package cache is updated (ie. apt-get update) and from there, it can determine from the package cache which packages need to be installed, and which dependent packages also need to be installed. The next step after that is to download all of the packages. Recent tools can parallelize some of that downloading...
But until all software is downloaded, the system as currently designed cannot procede. After that, the packages are expanded; a .deb package consists of a file list containing the target files, an archive that needs to be uncompressed and expanded, and that is the next step. Only after that is complete are packages ready to be set up, and that is the final phase of the package installation.

HTTP redirector looks promising, thanks for the link.

I just don't see why apt-get couldn't start the unpack and setup phase of Lynx as soon as all needed packages for it has been downloaded. It seams more a limitation of apt-get then the .deb format, probably dpkg could even handle it in it current form.

Unpacking on the fly should also be possible, and relatively simple to implement.

[AJenbo]

you can install more than one package at once in the same command as root:

# apt-get install package1 package2 package3

This would perform a sequential install, not parallel.

[Ex-Cyber]

Can't I just use 1 cd?

Not only can you install from the first CD alone, the packages are sorted by popularity (albeit only among those who opt in to popcon), so it's equally valid to grab the first two, three, four, or 72 ISOs if that's how many discs you're willing and able to produce.

[rock]

Squeeze has 30-35K packages. If I'm grepping this list correctly, there are 49,272 packages in Wheezy. That's a huge increase. No wonder it takes two years to come out with a new release.

[GreatEmerald]

Yea, I don't get why the download has to precede installation, and not be run in parallel. After all, Gentoo can handle it just fine - it downloads in the background, and compiles in the foreground. And yet at least apt-get and zypper can't handle them this way...

[curaga]

Please read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory

Swap storm -> install times measured in the hours -> user abandons install and consequently Debian.

[RealNC]

I'd say you'd need about 3,000 floppies for it all ...eek!

Actually, it's 35.915 floppies. 3.000 floppy disks only contain 4GB.

Yes, this comment serves no real purpose whatsoever... :-P

[curaga]

Actually, it's 35.915 floppies. 3.000 floppy disks only contain 4GB.

Yes, this comment serves no real purpose whatsoever... :-P

Is that with the 1.44mb standard, or the improved-but-not-compatible-with-all-drives 1.72mb or the 1.99mb?

(yes, I feel old)