Re: [MinGW-dvlpr] RFC: Reorganisation of SF Download Page

[Keith M. <kei...@us...>]

On Saturday 11 August 2007 18:43, Greg Chicares wrote:
> On 2007-08-11 16:17Z, Keith Marshall wrote:
> > While it makes no sense to have only one `Current' release, there
> > is no reason why we can't have more than one designated `Previous';
> > I've done just this with the binutils package.
>
> That looks good: from the main download page, this link
>   View older releases from the GNU Binutils package
>  
> http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=2435&package_id
>=11290 shows three different "Previous" binutils releases, going back
> to January 2003. OTOH, I recently replied to a <mingw-users> message
> that mentioned binutils-2.14.90, and I looked for that (so that I
> might point out exactly how old it is) but couldn't find it.

No, I can't find that either.  The SF file release system has some weird 
anomalies, e.g. once created, there's no way to remove either a package 
or a release, (although either may be subsequently renamed, redated and 
so recycled); there is, however, an option to delete files from their 
containing release, which renders them irretrievable within the FRS.

I've moved all of the binutils files I've found into appropriate release 
containers, within the `GNU Binutils' package.  Perhaps that 2.14.90 
version has been deleted; if not, it's well hidden.

> At this moment, there's still some inconsistency: e.g., older
> gcc-3.x versions are found under
>   View older releases from the Previous package
> and there's no such link for the "GCC Version 3" package.

The `View older releases...' link is created automatically, as soon as 
the number of releases within the package exceeds three.  As I proceed 
with this, I'll eventually move stuff out of `Previous' into whatever 
package is appropriate, so expect that link to appear.

> Of course I realize that you've only just begun reorganizing this.
>
> But some stuff seems to be missing. For instance, going through
> the sourceforge pages, I can't find the gcc version I use in
> production, namely
>   gcc-core-3.4.4-20050522-1.tar.gz
>   gcc-g++-3.4.4-20050522-1.tar.gz
> in any package, and even an "Advanced Search" for "20050522" yields
> nothing. That seems curious--I just confirmed that this command
>   wget
> http://downloads.sourceforge.net/mingw/gcc-g++-3.4.4-20050522-1.tar.g
>z does indeed fetch the correct file, and its md5sum matches the one I
> recorded in my historical notes.

So, it appears that the file still exists, but the release to which it 
has been attached has been flagged as `hidden'; when I discover which 
release that is, I'll relocate its files into an appropriately named 
release within the `GCC Version 3' package, and make it visible again.

> For people who know exactly what file they want, and who miss
>   prdownloads.sourceforge.net/mingw
> the way it used to be, this mirror
>   http://ftp.ntua.gr/mirror/mingw/
> might be worth a try. It seems to be current as of two days ago.
> I wonder how they get the names of files like gcc-3.4.4 that I
> can't find on sf.net with any search.

That would be difficult, without prior knowledge of what files exist, if 
their containers have now been hidden.  With repackaging, as I've been 
doing, and with the present SF style, I think it could also be sensible 
to re-expose many currently hidden releases.

Regards,
Keith.