[plug] APT-Proxy/Debian package sharing

[Christian]

Brad Campbell wrote:
> cern-httpd is just a web server, but then so is squid really..
> my idea was to setup the web server so its serving from the first
> machines /var/cache/apt/archives dir and the other machines
> all point thier sources.list at this server..

Well, squid is just a bit more than a web server although of course they
are mostly concerned with the same protocols. :)  The problem, as I
understand it, with using a web server to serve the
/var/cache/apt/archives directory to the other machines is that the
files that APT caches here are just stored "flat" in the directory.  On
the other hand, the archives that apt-get goes to in order to request
files are set up according to the hierarchical Debian directory
structure which APT learns about when you do an 'apt-get update' and
stores in the files kept in /var/state/apt/lists.  Therefore in order to
allow apt-get to access these files I would either have to manually
setup these complicated directory structures (which would take more than
effort than manually copying the package files across from machine to
machine!) or I would have to munge the /var/state/apt/lists files (which
wouldn't be that hard with a Perl script I suspect, although I'd be
worried whether something else might break).  I could be wrong about the
way Debian and APT manage packages but this is my understanding based on
what I've seen of the system's operation.

> To quote the Vicar of Dibley, I'll just throw some ideas into bed
> and see if you shag them ;p)

Heh, I'm tempted to say something like: "Was it as good for you as it
was for me?" :P

Regards,

Christian.