yum differential updates

[n0dalus]

On 4/11/06, Gregory Maxwell <gmaxwell at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So yes.. there is a gain for executables in what is likely the best
> case (excluding the case where the file wasn't actually changed), but
> it's not huge.

I wonder if a diff/delta creating program could be written
specifically for ELF format files.
Each .section (text,data,init,etc) of the library/program could be
analyzed. It might be able to do things such as detect the
introduction of a new symbol and record the offset that the symbol
locations after that were moved. A small bugfix may change the binary
data a lot, but if the data was analyzed properly the real changes
might only be small.

Just a thought,
n0dalus.