Roshan wrote:
All,
Most of us install software on our distro (specifically *buntu) using the internet There are odd times, when the hard disk may crash (physical). (or the hdd may blow up due to power surges etc.)
[snip]
Please note, the reason this initiative has come into picture is that the usage of the Internet is critically limited, in terms of downloads.
After updating my Kubuntu 6.06 from the net, I had made a backup of .deb files from apt cache into a CD and after reloading the system, they were pasted back in place. Apt went to the net to update but instead of starting downloads from 0%, it started at 50%. The rest, were later updates. So I guess you can use this method. Apt will use the net only to _list_ the packages and when it finds them in its own belly, it will not download them.
You could try it out and post a report on it.