[Aptitude-devel] Bug#519906: use a database like MySQL to speed things up

[Axel Beckert]

jidanni at jidanni.org wrote:
> Maybe moving the guts to a database like MySQL (in addition to
> xapian?) might speed things up.

Please don't!

It was already annoying and painful enough to have kdepim/akonadi to
pull in a MySQL server on every desktop/workstation with KDE in
Squeeze. (Luckily they fixed that for Wheezy and now allow to choose
at least SQLite instead.)

I don't want to have to install a MySQL server on all my boxes
including netbooks and embedded systems just to be able to use a
curses based package manager!

> Hmmm, true, aptitude would no longer work from a bare bones system.

Another good point.

> But you'll need apt-get anyway

.oO( Because the apt package is essential... )

> on e.g., cellphones with CPUs too tiny for comfortable aptitude use.

Depends. Used aptitude on the OpenMoko. WFM.

Daniel Burrows wrote:
> > I don't know anything about this stuff but Subversion 1.6 uses now sqlite
> > which can be provided by a single header file IIRC.
> 
>   SQL databases aren't a panacea.  I did a little experimentation a few
> months ago with building an sqlite database containing some of the core
> apt information.  It took ages to build and was too slow for practical
> use. (IMO)

Additionally, with SQLite you have to take special measures if you
want to backup them properly -- as with MySQL, too. I don't think it's
a good idea to burden that on every admin who just wants to use
aptitude.

		Regards, Axel
-- 
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