> > > > I'd think the info-zip package would have been a better choice since you > > can extract individual elements without uncomressing the whole mess and > > you wouldn't need two layers of archiving. > > > I use the Midnight Commander for extracting single files from a *.deb > file. I could probably do it as well on the command line using dpkg if > i took the pain reading it's man page, but since MC does the trick and > i'm eternally lazy... ;-) So where is the problem, please?
You can hide any amount of cruft behind a pretty front-end but it is still cruft all the same. If you want a file out of the compressed tar component you have to uncompress the whole stream to find it (after the ar pass). Info-zip (unlike gzip) can read it's directory (and comments, I think) without having to uncompress anything, and you can uncompress/extract individual elements without going through the whole stream. I don't think it can maintain unix ownership/attributes like tar does but you shouldn't be doing that directly in an installable package anyway. The install mechanism should set them up as a separate operation. Is it just the not-invented-here syndrome that keeps zip format from being used more under unix? Les Mikesell [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- TO UNSUBSCRIBE FROM THIS MAILING LIST: e-mail the word "unsubscribe" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] . Trouble? e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
