Re: Suggestion: Add option to use GNU mirrorlist for downloading sources

hello, would it be possible not to pollute my inbox with politics?

yours,

On 11/19/25 14:21, Rainer Fiebig ([email protected] via lfs-support 
Mailing List) wrote:
> Am 19.11.25 um 14:08 schrieb Thomas Trepl ([email protected]
> via lfs-support Mailing List):
>> Am Mittwoch, dem 19.11.2025 um 11:59 +0100 schrieb Rainer Fiebig:
>>> Am 18.11.25 um 22:58 schrieb Bruce Dubbs ([email protected] via
>>> lfs-support Mailing List):
>>>> On 11/18/25 3:25 PM, "Glitch (and Gummi)" ([email protected] via
>>>> lfs-support Mailing List) wrote:
>>>>> Hi there,
>>>>> I recently had an exchange with a sysadmin from the FSF after I was
>>>>> having trouble connecting to the GNU FTP server to download the
>>>>> required packages for LFS. Apparently they were having problems with
>>>>> DDoSes on their server, so they implemented a block on IP addresses
>>>>> that made several requests in a short time. Unfortunately, as I was
>>>>> downloading a large amount of packages from their server at the time
>>>>> (as you do for LFS), I got caught in this ban and was no longer able
>>>>> to connect.
>>>>>
>>>>> I eventually resolved this by `sed`ing the wget-list to point to a
>>>>> mirror of the GNU FTP instead. As mentioned in the beginning, I
>>>>> additionally emailed GNU directly about this and got in touch with one
>>>>> of their sysadmins, who suggested I point to `ftpmirror.gnu.org` to
>>>>> automatically get redirected to the fastest mirror. I have done this
>>>>> when downloading subsequent source packages and it seems to work well.
>>>>>
>>>>> Interestingly, the sysadmin mentioned that he wanted to send a
>>>>> suggestion to LFS, that they add a note advising users to point to
>>>>> `ftpmirror.gnu.org` if they are having trouble connecting to the main
>>>>> GNU FTP server. I agree that this would be useful advice, so I took
>>>>> the liberty of writing out this suggestion myself. I don't know how
>>>>> many people are experiencing connection issues with downloading
>>>>> sources, but I could imagine adding a little note in the download
>>>>> instructions could save some users a lot of hassle.
>>>>
>>>> See the 'Important' note at
>>>> https://rivendell.linuxfromscratch.org/lfs/view/development/chapter03/introduction.html
>>> I've read the articles mentioned in the note and I think that the
>>> problem with AI-bots cannot be solved by technical measures alone.
>>>
>>> It's about time that governments and lawmakers wake up and issue
>>> legislation that makes disrespect of "robots.txt" etc. a serious
>>> offense.  AI-companies should be held liable for not just peanuts like a
>>> few million dollars (or whatever) but for half of their profits.  *That*
>>> would make them change their minds about ruining the internet and
>>> free-feeding on other peoples labor.
>>>
>>> Lawmakers and bureaucrats all over the world are masters in thinking up
>>> all sorts of crap to make people's lifes more complicated and miserable.
>>>   Grabbing the AI-gangs where it hurts would be something useful for change.
>>>
>> Yeah, that is true.  And the big Nvidia boss tells us that this is the only
>> future of IT, yeah, the whole menship. Haha, what a joke. Yes, i know why
>> he is telling that: he sells the GPUs for the DCs. He is the only one who
>> earns money with AI atm. All others do hope to earn money.  Look at the
>> insane madness in reactivating or building new nuclear power plants to run
>> their DCs.  They should ask their bots what they can tell about nuclear
>> desasters... That madness started already years ago with that crypto
>> currency crap.
>>
>> That, and much more trivial things like the Python module hell (naive as i
>> am, i thought one has learned from the DLL hell in the early Windows days,
>> but no, it seems not), and the insane stupidity of rewriting tools just to
>> use another language... it all makes me giving up on IT after doing IT my
>> whole life so far, it is no longer the IT i want to work for and work with.
>>
>> Yes, the less i have to do with computers, the better it is: I'll not be
>> one of those who drive that insanity. And i can tell you, there is indeed a
>> real, analog world out there with many funny stuff, try it!
> I often marvel at how much one can get done if one doesn't (have to)
> deal with a computer. ;)
> 
> Rainer
> 
>

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