Talk:Deb (file format)/Archive 1

Edit on 23 September 2016‎

Ewx you reverted my edit (diff), but the way the article is worded now is not correct, which is why I made the edit. Currently it says:

"Global Header - This contains the file signature and the first file header which includes the debian-binary package identifier and the deb format version number. This is 2.0 for current versions of Debian."

The version number is not part of that first ar archive file header. The "2.0" is the data section of that first ar archive. So the current wording is incorrect. I'm re-applying the edit to correct this problem. Note: I'm the one to put that incorrect wording there in the first place, I was just correcting my bad wording. This (old version) is what the article looked like before I started editing it. Offnfopt^(talk) 03:40, 25 September 2016 (UTC)

The text remains hopelessly wrong. (1) The "global header" (in the language of ar archive) does not contain the first member, it's just the "!<arch>" magic string. (2) The is no "first ar archive" within the .deb; the only .ar archive in play is the whole file, and none of the three files it contains are ar archives. (3) The first file in the archive doesn't "include" the string 'debian-binary', that's its name. Ewx (talk) 09:13, 25 September 2016 (UTC)

Thanks, I understand what is wrong with the description of the format now. I was misguided in thinking there were three ar archives (one for each section) when in fact there is only one. I'll take some time in the next couple days to correct these problems in the article and update the file structure image. Thanks for your time in looking over the article. Offnfopt^(talk) 22:46, 25 September 2016 (UTC)

Have you read the man page describing the format? That seems like it would be the place to start.Ewx (talk) 07:42, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Feel free to make substantial contributions to the article if you want to help improve it. Offnfopt^(talk) 09:31, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

You've made it incorrect again. I give up.Ewx (talk) 07:46, 28 September 2016 (UTC)

Informative, thanks for all the details. Offnfopt^(talk) 08:29, 28 September 2016 (UTC)