Simply to test how well gzipping works on libraries, I did:

$ tar -cvf - /usr/lib/libc.a | gzip -9c - > ./libc.tar.gz

(that isn't the most elegant way to do it, but it works and is portable)

the resulting file was about ONE FOURTH the size. So tarring/gzipping it
up might make a difference. Now, I would simply tar up my /usr/include and
/usr/lib directories and transfer them over my Ethernet, but I don't think
the i386 binary formats for NetBSD and Linux are the same, though correct
me if I'm wrong.

If those directories come to 19 MB uncompressed, they'd come to about 5 MB
compressed, or less if just what is needed is included. (For example, my
NetBSD box doesn't have X, since it's a router/print server with a small
hard drive, so the X11-related stuff would be unnecessary.) By contrast,
the i386 NetBSD binary base set, already compressed, is around 11 MB. The
source must be at least as large.

You see why I wish to avoid this. I would like something like what I
understand the cross/zoularis package to be, but for Linux rather than
Solaris.

Jimmy Kaplowitz
jkaplowitz@softhome.net / jim@bway.net

On Sat, 2 Oct 1999, Michael Richardson wrote:

> 
>   Frankly, I don't think you are saving that much:
> 
> pzero-[~/pkgsrc/databases/p5-DBI] mcr 306 %du -s /usr/include /usr/lib
> 8695    /usr/include
> 11603   /usr/lib
>