In README.mirrors, Debian's primary site ftp.debian.org has the remote
directory listed as /debian. Using the standard "mirror" program, I have
always gotten the response
"Cannot get remote directory details (/debian )"
For a year, I just went on to other mirror sites.
The above message made me presume I was being refused permissions,
perhaps during certain hours.
I now know that "mirror" does not follow the link from /debian to
/net/ac121/linux/distributions/debian
The site ftp.debian.org has four paths to the debian distribution
/debian
/pub/debian
/pub/linux/distributions/debian
/net/ac121/linux/distributions/debian
Both the paths /debian and /pub/debian fail under "mirror",
though a typical ftp works.
However, the path /pub/linux/distributions/debian works under "mirror".
I suggest that not /debian but /pub/linux/distributions/debian be put in
README.mirrors.
While I would prefer to reduce burden on the primary Debian site,
ftp.debian.org, over the last year the three secondary sites I used
sequentially eventually went defunct: tsx-11.mit.edu, uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu,
and now debian.crosslink.net. Each of them caused me great difficulty over
the months just before they completely stopped handling Debian. Currently,
debian.crosslink.net has a mixture of old, new, missing packages. Some
required packages are missing. I finally ceased using debian.crosslink.net
and switched to ftp.debian.org when I noticed that the very important document
libc5-libc6-Mini-HOWTO.html.tar.gz
was a month out of date.
I suggest that Debian make a statistical measure of listed mirror sites and
enter notes in README.mirrors about improper mirroring.
--
Jim Burt, NJ9L, Fairfax, Virginia, USA
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mnsinc.com/jameson
"If merely 'feeling good' could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely
valid human experience." --William James, Varieties of Religious
Experience
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