mirroring

[William Merriam <merriam@0112>]

> We need some form of automatic updating of the pages leading to software.

While I find rufus.w3.org very useful, I don't think rpm2html will help here. 

Eddie Maddox, like me, is trying to maintain a mirror of the distribution.
I believe his question was essentially  "Where is the new file?" and was
not about the web site.

But I will speak for myself. Some months ago, when I first started trying
out packages from Independence, I asked on the list about mirroring.
Specifically, I asked about Win32 tools suitable for new users. Several
helpful people made recommendations, all of which I tried, and none of
which could cope reliably.

Later I started using a Perl package called Mirror, which is not difficult
to use and seems to do the job very well. Being a command line tool, it is
perhaps not ideal for new users, and I have tried it only under Linux.
Since mirroring didn't appear to be a problem for other list members, I
didn't mention it.

It seems more relevant now. The question "Where is the new file?" is not
primarily a server-related problem and is not best answered on a web site.
Mirror tells me where the new file is (as well as fetching it), and the
answer is different for different site visitors - depending on when they
last visited, of course.

I have been using Mirror for months and it is very robust, but it still has
some small difficulties with Independence when I try to mirror everything.
Here is a log of a Mirror session with some problems highlighted at the top.

http://apisdn.com/mirror-log2.html

I apologize for my absence. Distractions, aside from the usual, have
included a new nephew threatening to arrive prematurely, the theft of some
equipment and a stay in Germany (the fourth most expensive EU country in
which to connect privately to the Internet). I am back in England now; the
largest cathode ray tube in the house has a useable display size of seven
inches; and I have a healthy two-week-old German nephew who, after all that
fuss, was born exactly on the date he was originally due.

--
[~] $ lynx 0112