[Bug 902548] [NEW] apt: add option to compress files in /var/lib/apt/lists

[Mark]

Public bug reported:

Hi,

This is a suggestion for the apt package management system.

The files in /var/lib/apt/lists seem to be uncompressed text files. On
my system they occupy over 110MB of disk space.

Would it be possible to automatically compress those files as they are
downloaded? That could reduce disk space used by about 80%. That's
particularly important when disk space is scarce, e.g. if you have
installed Lubuntu to a USB flash drive, or are using a netbook with 4GB
SSD. Plus reducing the amount of data written helps to extend the life
of SSDs and flash drives.

(If the list files are downloaded via HTTP, the web server might be
compressing them using gzip/deflate type compression. In which case, apt
could save the received compressed data as-is, instead of decompressing
and recompressing it.)

** Affects: apt (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/902548

Title:
  apt: add option to compress files in /var/lib/apt/lists

Status in “apt” package in Ubuntu:
  New

Bug description:
  Hi,

  This is a suggestion for the apt package management system.

  The files in /var/lib/apt/lists seem to be uncompressed text files. On
  my system they occupy over 110MB of disk space.

  Would it be possible to automatically compress those files as they are
  downloaded? That could reduce disk space used by about 80%. That's
  particularly important when disk space is scarce, e.g. if you have
  installed Lubuntu to a USB flash drive, or are using a netbook with
  4GB SSD. Plus reducing the amount of data written helps to extend the
  life of SSDs and flash drives.

  (If the list files are downloaded via HTTP, the web server might be
  compressing them using gzip/deflate type compression. In which case,
  apt could save the received compressed data as-is, instead of
  decompressing and recompressing it.)

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