Indices Difference Files

[ferrreo]

I can't find a way to make aptly generate diff and patch files when publishing updates to an existing published repo so apologies if this feature request already exists.

Detailed Description

It would be awesome if when passing a flag or something aptly could generate the diff/patch/hash files needed for this apt feature.

Context

Currently using aptly for some pretty large repos and user's have to download the whole package list file for each component each time. These can get massive even when compressed (30MB compressed, 150MB+ uncompressed) resulting in long update times for those with less than stellar internet connections.

Indices difference files allow the user to only download the diff and patch files and then patch the package list files locally. DAX and reprepro both support this but are less than ideal compared to aptly.

Possible Implementation

If correct flag is passed we need to generate some diff and patch files on a publish if there is an existing published repo there and put them in the correct folder in the correctly named files (details at the link above).