Re: distribute xz-compressed tarballs, too?

[Bruno Haible]

Hi Jim,

> > True, but it would need 50% more disk space on the ftp server and each
> > of its mirrors.
> 
> Disk space it not the issue.  As you say, it is very inexpensive, now.
> However, network bandwidth is not.

Well, one of the two leading German hosted web server providers now offers
"unlimited traffic" for its virtual and dedicated servers. You pay for
the RAM you need. You pay for the OS, if it's not Linux. But you don't
pay for the traffic any more.

Now, if half of the users request the .tar.gz file and the other half the
.tar.xz file, the working set for serving both is increased by 50%,
compared to the case of only the .tar.gz file.

Really, if someone wants to convince me with the argument of server and
mirror bandwidth, I want to see the cost calculation of the server admin.

Bruno