Remove separate tarballs (was: Re: objc patch (was Re: Problem to install GCC 4.6.0 with Objective-C language))

[Nicola Pero]

> Maybe we can offer an additional compression format like lzma .xz
> which brings down 4.5.3 compressed size from 66MB bz2 to 52MB (with  
> -7).
> But that can be decided separately.

Yes ... on the other hand, this does not address the other issue,  
which is the
amount of disk space that you need to actually uncompress the  
tarballs :-(

Unpacking gcc-4.6.0.tar.xx requires about 600 MB.  Unpacking gcc- 
core-4.6.0.tar.xx
requires about 150 MB.  It's a big difference.

Compiling a few languages (eg, the C ones) may produce object/build  
files for about
400 MB or so, meaning if you download gcc-4.6.0 to get a C compiler  
you'll likely
need a minimum of 1 GB of disk space.  If you download gcc-core-4.6.0  
you may
get away with about 550 MB (and get the same compiler).

Maybe you could reduce the number of tarballs, but without going to  
the extreme
of having just one.  Eg, you could keep the testsuite (expands to  
approx 150MB) as
a separate tarball, and probably Java (due to its size, again expands  
to approx 150MB)
as a separate tarball too, while merging everything else into a single  
tarball (expanding
to approx 300 MB).  It may a reasonable compromise.

But I'm not sure, just mentioning the idea.  The testsuite seems  
particularly suitable
for being kept separate, as most end-users want to just use the  
software as opposed
to test it; moreover testing requires DejaGNU, which (depending on the  
platform) may
require lot more dependencies and work to install - unpacking an  
additional tarball
would be the least of your troubles.  And some users may appreciate  
saving 150 MB
of disk space. :-)

But I don't have a strong opinion either way.  I was just contributing  
some thoughts.  I'm fine
with whatever you decide. :-)

I generally like the idea of reducing the exposure to untested  
configurations with missing
directories.

Thanks