Hi, I would recommend sqlite. It is really fast (faster than mysql and postgresql, when we're not talking about huge datasets), and just a small dependency to add. It's also used by several other projects, so it's likely that it would be installed as a dependency on a system sooner or later. My previous workplace used tar as a sort of database format for geological files, and tar files only worked okay, not great. When making a program read tar files directly from within a program, instead of extracting it first with the tar utility, it's cumbersome, and not KISS. Sqlite is well tested, and used for several projects (for instance firefox, not that firefox is a good example of speedy execution times). Also, one could argue that sqlite is a better fit for pacman, since it's like it was made to do this job, rather than tar, a tool that was originally made for making backups to tapes. I agree with Klaus-J. Wolf here, and am convinced that you would decrease the time it takes more by sqlite than with tar. Just my 4 nibbles. -- Best regards, Alexander Rødseth xyproto / trontonic / TU