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Re: Sparse file criteria malfunction - binutils produces sparse .exe & .dll files


On Wed, Jun 04, 2003 at 05:33:46PM +0200, Markus Mauhart wrote:
>"Christopher Faylor" <cgf-rcm@cygwin.com> wrote ...
>>
>> On Mon, Jun 02, 2003 at 01:26:50PM +0100, Max Bowsher wrote:
>> >$ uname -svr
>> >CYGWIN_NT-5.1 1.5.0(0.86/3/2) 2003-06-02 00:41
>> >
>> >The new sparse file heuristic is being triggered by the way binutils writes
>> >.exe and .dll files.
>> >
>> >I'm unsure this could be worked around. Any ideas?
>>
>> Since you are the principal complainer about this particular feature,
>
>IMHO Max is the inofficial spokesman of a suffering but silent majority.

It's a shame, isn't it?  So many people suffering and not a single one
willing to do any work to verify or fix the problem other than the
cygwin "core developers".

(Actually this isn't quite true since, since after asking repeatedly for
indication that this feature was "bad" from people who originally
complained about it, the real problems with the implementation were
brought to light by someone who wasn't a core developer.  And, the
potential solution was also provided by same.  All other correspondence
on this subject from non-"core developers" has been hand wringing
woe-is-me.)

There are lots of people suffering here.  There are the poor people
receiving this email who can't figure out how to unsubscribe from the
list.  There are the people trying to use java, perplexed by the fact
that their paths are not recognized.  There are the people trying to
login via ssh and use remote drives.  The fact that you are suffering
gives you absolutely no leverage.

If you are suffering, take some steps to help.  Whining here does not
help.  Loudly proclaiming that something must be bad with no facts to
back it up does nothing either.

>We others are speachless when even thinking about people who confuse
>the 'traditional unix feature' called "sparse files" with an advanced
>special purpose filesystem feature like "NTFS sparse files", where the
>people responsible for it deliberatly decided NOT to let it be the default
>for any directory or even volume (unlike e.g. compression, which can be set
>as default for dirs and volumes).

Let me again, point out that this is an open source project.  You can
easily rectify problems by providing patches.  You can become an
informed voice rather than the standard rhetorical whiner.  In fact, you
don't even have to provide patches.  Just providing real test cases
indicating problems would be a help.

You are not our customer.  You have no rights other than the rights you
give yourself by participating.  If you don't like our decisions, we'll
listen to factual arguments.  When we realized that there was a problem
with the sparse file implementation, AFTER SOMEONE PROVIDED REAL DATA,
we took steps to fix it.

Rather than spend N minutes typing in outraged email, take some time to
do something positive that will affect your cause rather than something
that feels good but has no effect for anything but your own ego.

Max thinks that the current version of cygwin has problems with ld.
I've tried it.  No problems.  He didn't even go to the minimal amount
of effort required to provide a ld test case or provide some details
for tracking down the problem.

You, and people like you, all feel wonderfully outraged and put upon,
I'm sure.  It's so easy to second guess decisions but so hard to
actually do anything constructive.

If you want to help, provide a test case showing how binutils creates
files with holes that are broken by the current cygwin snapshot.

Otherwise, just send your complaints to /dev/null.  They will have the
same effect as sending them here.

cgf
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