Re: possible in lynx file download?

hi rick.

> But when I try downloading the MD5SUMS file from the same directory, I get a 
> few lines of HTML pre-pended to the downloaded file.

lines like the following?

> <!-- X-URL: http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.7/powerpc/iso-cd/MD5SUMS -->
> <!-- Date: Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:34:12 GMT -->
> <!-- Last-Modified: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 00:31:23 GMT -->
> <BASE HREF="http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/6.0.7/powerpc/iso-cd/MD5SUMS">
>

> Has anybody else seen this behavior?

well, i just noticed it now, retracing your steps.

> Is this a bug in Lynx?

i do not believe so.  afaict, lynx adds those lines for generally
sensible reasons, as explained here:

  http://lynx.isc.org/current/lynx2-8-8/lynx_help/Lynx_users_guide.html#RemoteSource

as mentioned there, if you really want to, you can disable this
behavior by adding

  PREPEND_BASE_TO_SOURCE:FALSE

to your lynx.cfg.

> Am I doing something wrong?

you could use wget (or any other tool designed for downloading files
in the general case, as opposed to browsing them specifically) instead
of a browser.  lynx adds those lines because they provide information
useful for *browsing*, which is probably not quite what you're doing
with the md5sums files.

> I have no problem getting CD ".iso" images. (Except that it seems to
> prefer IPv6, which is significantly slower for me than IPv4. Is
> there a config option to change that behavior?)

there happens to be a command line option for wget that lets you do
precisely that.

  $ wget --prefer-family=IPv4 URL

also, i notce that the page at http://www.debian.org/CD/http-ftp/
requests that one not use a web browser to download iso images, since
most browsers (unlike, eg, wget) are not designed to permit resuming
interrupted/failed downloads at the last failpoint. (see the section
"Downloading Debian CD/DVD images via HTTP/FTP" on that page for more
details.)

using wget, to resume downloading a partially-downloaded file, add the
-c option:

  $ wget -c --prefer-family=IPv4 URL

if you like, you could use lynx to navigate to the directory
containing files of interest to you, and then use wget to download
them: lynx lets you call external programs to act on either the
current page (with the EXTERN_PAGE command, possibly mapped to the `,'
key) or the current link (with the EXTERN_LINK command, possibly
mapped to the `.' key.)

lynx must be told about which programs these EXTERN_* commands provide
access to. your lynx installation may have appropriate calls to wget
already defined.

if not, adding the line...

  EXTERNAL:http:wget -b -c --prefer-family=IPv4 %s:FALSE

...to the file...

  ~/.lynx/external

...might suit your purposes.  (`wget -b' invokes wget in the
background.)

more details on telling your lynx installation about the external
helper programs you would like to call can probably be found in the
comments of your lynx.cfg.  try searching for 'xternal application'.

fyi, for lynx-specific questions, there is a mailing list for lynx:

  [email protected]

hope this helps,
wes


On Sun, 31 Mar 2013, Rick Thomas wrote:

>
> On Macs (an apple macintosh G4, running debian squeeze) I use lynx to 
> download cd-images from cdimage.debian.org.  I have no problem  getting CD 
> ".iso" images. (Except that it seems to prefer IPv6, which is significantly 
> slower for me than IPv4. Is there a config option to change that behavior?)
>
> But when I try downloading the MD5SUMS file from the same directory, I get a 
> few lines of HTML pre-pended to the downloaded file.
>
> Has anybody else seen this behavior?  Am I doing something wrong?  Is this a 
> bug in Lynx?
>
> Rick
>
>
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