1 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
4 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
5 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
7 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
9 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
10 Ch "The Debian Archive"
11 New Sec "Documentation" stubbed out
13 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
15 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
16 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
17 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
18 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
19 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
21 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
22 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
23 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
24 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
25 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
26 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
27 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
29 - Sec "Voting" stubbed in Developer Duties
30 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
32 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
33 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
34 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
35 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
36 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
37 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
38 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
39 - update copyright date
40 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
45 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example.
47 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
48 recompile"; closes: #102626
49 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
50 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
51 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
52 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
53 - indicat that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
55 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
56 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
57 - Explain to reassign/close bugs of removed packages. closes: #130255
58 - Updates the note about software subject to US patents. closes: #142798
59 - New Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
60 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
61 - New Section "Package's information" under Resources
62 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
63 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility.
64 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
65 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
66 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
67 also speak of the DELAYED directory. closes: #135562, #136774
68 - Various spelling fixes.
69 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
71 - Update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
73 - Updated the list of available architectures.
74 - Commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
75 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
76 of the package and nothing more.
77 - Added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
78 any pain to the ftpmasters.
79 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
80 the use of the delayed queue.
81 - New Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
82 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
84 - Stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance".
85 - Stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System".
88 - update French translation
90 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 8 May 2002 13:07:11 -0700
92 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
95 - some grammar corrections
96 - update French translation
98 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
99 anymore; closes: #135559
100 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
102 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
104 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
105 that would be welcome)
106 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
107 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
108 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
109 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
110 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
111 - other minor wording changes
112 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
113 - Ch "Package uploads":
114 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
115 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
116 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
117 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
118 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
119 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
120 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
122 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
124 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
126 * from Martin Michlmayr
127 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
128 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
129 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
131 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
133 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
135 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
137 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
138 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
139 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
142 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
144 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
147 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
149 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
152 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
154 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
155 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
156 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
157 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
158 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
159 talking about uploading to distributions
160 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
161 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
162 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
164 - French translation updated
166 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
167 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
168 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
170 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
172 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
175 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
176 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
179 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
181 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
184 * fix a typo in a link
185 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
186 update documentation accordingly
188 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
189 forwarding bugs upstream
191 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
192 entities which should be used
193 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
194 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
196 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
198 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
200 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
201 * French version: completely up-to-date now
202 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
203 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
205 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
208 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
210 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
212 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
214 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
215 this translation needs updating
216 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
217 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
218 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
220 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
221 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
222 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
224 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
225 included yet, however
227 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
229 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
231 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
233 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
234 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
236 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
238 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
240 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
242 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
243 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
244 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
246 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
248 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
250 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
253 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
254 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
255 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
256 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
257 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
258 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
259 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
260 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
261 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
262 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
263 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
264 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
266 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
267 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
268 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
269 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
270 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
272 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
274 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
275 * update copyright notice for 2001
276 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
277 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
278 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
280 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
282 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
284 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
286 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
288 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
290 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
292 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
294 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
295 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
297 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
298 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
299 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
300 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
301 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
302 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
303 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
304 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
305 could be used if necessary
306 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
307 mention the rsync dupload method
308 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
310 * other small corrections
311 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
312 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
313 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
314 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
316 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
318 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
319 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
321 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
323 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
325 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
326 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
327 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
328 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
330 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
331 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
332 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
333 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
334 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
336 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
338 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
339 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
340 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
341 team (closes: Bug#52906)
342 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
343 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
344 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
346 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
347 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
348 - added a section about the LDAP database
349 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
350 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
352 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
353 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
355 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
357 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
359 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
360 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
361 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
363 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
364 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
365 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
366 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
367 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
368 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
369 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
370 description from developers-reference.sgml
372 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
374 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
376 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
377 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
379 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
381 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
382 releases are available at archive.debian.org
383 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
384 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
385 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
386 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
387 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
388 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
389 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
390 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
392 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
393 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
394 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
395 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
397 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
398 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
399 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
400 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
401 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
402 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
403 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
404 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
405 suggestion from James Troup
406 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
407 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
408 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
409 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
412 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
414 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
416 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
417 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
419 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
421 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
423 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
424 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
425 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
426 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
427 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
428 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
429 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
431 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
433 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
435 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
436 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
437 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
438 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
439 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
440 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
442 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
443 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
445 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
447 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
449 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
451 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
453 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
454 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
455 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
456 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
457 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
459 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
460 with intro; demoted server sections under that
461 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
462 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
464 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
465 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
466 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
467 a normal developer may have access.
469 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
471 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
473 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
474 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
475 step all over each other
477 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
479 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
481 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
482 address for PGP key updates
484 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
486 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
488 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
489 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
490 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
491 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
492 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
494 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
496 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
498 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
499 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
500 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
501 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
502 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
503 <keyring-maint> instead)
504 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
505 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
507 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
509 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
510 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
511 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
513 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
515 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
517 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
518 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
519 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
520 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
521 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
522 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
524 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
525 tighten up the language a bit
526 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
527 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
528 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
529 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
531 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
532 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
533 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
534 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
535 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
536 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
538 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
539 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
540 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
541 about how to depart Debian gracefully
542 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
543 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
544 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
545 number of available packages
546 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
547 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
549 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
551 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
553 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
556 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
558 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
560 * not officially released
561 * more spelling corrections
562 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
564 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
566 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
568 * not officially released
569 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
570 * some PGP-centricity removed
571 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
572 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
573 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
574 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
575 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
576 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
578 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
580 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
582 * not officially released
583 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
584 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
585 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
586 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
587 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
588 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
589 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
590 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
591 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
592 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
593 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
594 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
595 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
596 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
598 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
599 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
601 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
603 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
604 take a couple of weeks
605 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
606 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
607 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
608 excited about it and can't wait
609 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
610 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
612 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
613 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
615 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
616 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
617 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
619 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
621 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
623 * move to 3-level version number:
624 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
625 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
626 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
627 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
628 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
631 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
632 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
633 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
635 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
637 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
638 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
639 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
640 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
641 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
642 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
644 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
646 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
647 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
648 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
649 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
650 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
651 - "The CVS server": new section added
652 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
654 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
655 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
656 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
657 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
658 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
660 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
661 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
662 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
663 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
664 a canonical location?)
665 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
666 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
667 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
668 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
670 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
672 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
673 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
674 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
675 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
677 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
679 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
681 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
682 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
683 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
684 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
685 them. (closes Bug#26948)
686 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
687 and should not be included in this Reference.
688 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
689 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
690 maintainer tools only!
691 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
692 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
693 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
694 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
695 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
696 * Little corrections here and there.
697 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
698 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
701 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
703 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
705 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
706 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
707 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
709 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
710 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
711 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
712 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
713 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
714 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
715 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
716 do prior to uploading
717 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
718 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
720 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
721 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
722 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
723 duties with respect to bugs
724 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
725 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
726 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
728 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
729 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
730 * grammar and markup changes throughout
731 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
732 explicit what is used to build this package
734 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
736 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
739 * version number and date are automatically populated now
740 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
741 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
742 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
743 * utilize the new URL tag
744 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
747 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
749 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
751 * non-maintainer release
752 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
753 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
754 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
755 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
756 text, it can't hurt you.)
757 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
758 reflect this packages version number
759 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
761 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
763 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
767 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
769 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
771 * New version numbering scheme:
773 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
774 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
775 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
778 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
779 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
780 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
781 differ between the manuals.
783 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
784 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
785 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
786 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
788 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
789 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
791 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
793 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
795 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
797 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
799 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
800 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
802 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
803 (as requested by James Troup)
805 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
807 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
809 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
811 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
813 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
815 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
817 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
819 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
820 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
821 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
822 the non-maintainer release
824 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
825 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
826 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
829 - Lots of typos fixed
831 * Compressed SGML source code
833 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
834 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
836 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
838 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
840 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
842 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
843 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
844 - Announcing package uploads
845 * New section about Debian Mentors
846 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
847 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
848 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
849 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
851 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
853 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
855 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
856 of our FTP server and the development process
857 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
858 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
859 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
861 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
862 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
863 debian-devel before they are uploaded
864 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
865 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
866 contacting the maintainer
867 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
868 a new manual released soon)
870 * Include SGML source in package
871 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
872 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
874 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
876 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
880 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200