Is there any way to speed up apt-get ?

[Bob Nielsen]

On Wed, Mar 02, 2005 at 06:42:28PM +0100, Vincent Trouilliez wrote:
> > Not only does the US lag a bit in internet speed, the costs here tend to 
> > be somewhat higher than in many other countries.
> 
> Hmmmm, how much costs 1Mbps in the states ?
> The cost of life in the US is way higher than in France. Here I pay
> about 20 Euros for 1Mbps cable, and 20Mbps ADSL costs about 30 Euros. 
> About 40 USD at a rough guess.
> But here most people earn only about 1,000 USD per month, and still have
> to pay some income tax every year on top of that.
> I don't think on can live decently in a US city with 1,000 USD...no ? 
> So even if you pay say 100 or 150 USD per month for broadband, its still
> cheap by US standards...

It varies quite a bit.  For 1.5Mb down/896kb up, I pay 48 USD, $28 to
the telephone company for my ADSL connection and $20 to my ISP (bridged,
one static IP, no usage restrictions).  Until a few months ago it was
slightly more expensive and only 650kb down/256kb up but technology
improvements and competition have helped.  Cable would be a bit cheaper
if I subscribed for television (I have satellite) and slightly higher
without for a data rate of (I think) 2Mb/sec.  Satellite internet is 
more expensive (around 70 USD per month, I think) and is mainly used by 
people who cannot get a fast connection otherwise.

I think that the cost of shopping and dining are slightly higher in
France than here (but less than in England), although housing (also high
in England) is less expensive than most places in the U.S.  We are taxed
less but pay more for medical care (although now that I am over 65 
years of age, the government medicare program covers much of this).

> 
> 
> > When I was in France (Roubaix) last year, I noticed that there were many
> > more internet cafés than I have seen in the U.S.
> > I suppose that is somewhat a reflection of the lower computer/people ratio there.
> 
> Definitely ! There are still tons of people who don't have a PC here,
> and many of those who have, don't really use internet to it's full
> potential. each of my parents have one, but they don't even master
> e-mails ! It really very very very basic stuff. All my mom wants from
> her computer is... "Freecell" ! :-/

Yeah, my wife is the same way.  She stopped using email after getting a 
bunch of spam but likes "Pysol".