<!ENTITY % dynamicdata SYSTEM "dynamic.ent" > %dynamicdata;
<!-- CVS revision of this document -->
- <!ENTITY cvs-rev "$Revision: 1.265 $">
+ <!ENTITY cvs-rev "$Revision: 1.282 $">
<!-- if you are translating this document, please notate the CVS
revision of the original developer's reference in cvs-en-rev -->
<p>
If you want to print this reference, you should use the <url
id="developers-reference.pdf" name="pdf version">.
+This page is also available in <url id="index.fr.html" name="French">.
]]>
<toc detail="sect1">
<sect1 id="servers-non-us">The non-US server
<p>
-The non-US server, <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>,
-holds the canonical copy of the non-US part of the Debian archive.
-If you need to upload a package into one of the non-US sections, upload it
-to this server; see <ref id="upload-non-us">.
- <p>
-Problems with the non-US package archive should generally be submitted as
-bugs against the <package>nonus.debian.org</package> pseudo-package (notice
-the lack of hyphen between "non" and "us" in the pseudo-package name
-— that's for backwards compatibility). Remember to check whether or
-not someone else has already reported the problem to the
-<url id="http://&bugs-host;/nonus.debian.org" name="Bug Tracking System">.
+The non-US server <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>
+was discontinued with the release of sarge. The pseudo-package
+<package>nonus.debian.org</package>
+stil exists for now.
<sect1 id="servers-www">The www-master server
<p>
<p>
Usually the only reason to use a different host is when you need to publish
materials subject to the U.S. export restrictions, in which case you can use
-one of the other servers located outside the United States, such as the
-aforementioned <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>.
+one of the other servers located outside the United States.
<p>
Send mail to &email-debian-devel; if you have any questions.
‘3.0r1’, ‘2.2r4’ becomes ‘2.2r5’, and
so forth).
Please refer to
-<qref="upload-stable">uploads to the <em>stable</em> distribution</qref>
+<qref id="upload-stable">uploads to the <em>stable</em> distribution</qref>
for details.
<p>
Note that development under <em>unstable</em> continues during the
<p>
The Incoming system is responsible for collecting updated packages and
installing them in the Debian archive. It consists of a set of
-directories and scripts that are installed both on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>
-and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>.
+directories and scripts that are installed on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>.
<p>
Packages are uploaded by all the maintainers into a directory called
<file>UploadQueue</file>.
<sect1 id="madison">The <prgn>madison</prgn> utility
<p>
<prgn>madison</prgn> is a command-line utility that is available
-on both <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt> and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>, and on
+on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>, and on
the mirror on <tt>&ftp-master-mirror;</tt>. It
uses a single argument corresponding to a package name. In result
it displays which version of the package is available for each
<p>
For more information please visit <url id="&url-alioth;">.
+ <sect id="developer-misc">Goodies for Developers
+ <p>
+ <sect1 id="lwn">LWN Subscriptions
+ <p>
+Since October of 2002, HP has sponsored a subscription to LWN for all
+interested Debian developers.
+
+Details on how to get access to this benefit are in
+<url id="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2002/10/msg00018.html">.
+
+
<chapt id="pkgs">Managing Packages
<p>
archive maintenance software will parse the changes file and see that not
all files have been uploaded.
<p>
-<!-- FIXME: is this still topical? Explain the rationale? -->
-<em>Note:</em> Do not upload to <tt>ftp-master</tt> cryptographic
-packages which belong to <em>contrib</em> or <em>non-free</em>. Uploads of
-such software should go to <tt>non-us</tt> (see <ref
-id="upload-non-us">). Furthermore packages containing code that is
-patent-restricted by the United States government cannot be uploaded to
-<tt>ftp-master</tt>; depending on the case they may still be uploaded to
-<file>non-US/non-free</file> (it's in non-free because of distribution issues
-and not because of the license of the software). If you can't upload it to
-<tt>ftp-master</tt>, then neither can you upload it to backup
-queues that finally also end up on <tt>ftp-master</tt>. If you are not sure
-whether U.S. patent controls or cryptographic controls apply to your
-package, post a message to &email-debian-devel; and ask.
- <p>
You may also find the Debian packages <ref id="dupload"> or
<ref id="dput"> useful
when uploading packages. These handy programs help automate the
<sect1 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>non-US</tt>
<p>
-<em>Note:</em> non-us is currently not processed any more.
- <p>
-As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded
-to <tt>ftp-master</tt>. Instead, upload the package with anonymous FTP
-to <ftpsite>non-us.debian.org</ftpsite>, placing the files in
-&upload-queue; (again, both <ref id="dupload"> and <ref
-id="dput"> can do this for you if invoked properly).
- <p>
-Note that U.S. residents or citizens are subject to restrictions on
-export of cryptographic software. As of this writing, U.S. citizens
-are allowed to export some cryptographic software, subject to
-notification rules by the U.S. Department of Commerce. However, this
-restriction has been waived for software which is already available
-outside the U.S. Therefore, any cryptographic software which belongs
-in the <em>main</em> section of the Debian archive and does not depend
-on any package outside of <em>main</em> (e.g., does not depend on
-anything in <em>non-US/main</em>) can be uploaded to <tt>ftp-master</tt>
-or its queues, described above.
- <p>
-Debian policy does not prevent upload to non-US by U.S. residents or
-citizens, but care should be taken in doing so. It is recommended that
-developers take all necessary steps to ensure that they are not
-breaking current US law by doing an upload to non-US, <em>including
-consulting a lawyer</em>.
- <p>
-For packages in <em>non-US/main</em>, <em>non-US/contrib</em>,
-developers should at least follow the <url id="&url-u.s.-export;"
-name="procedure outlined by the US Government">. Maintainers of
-<em>non-US/non-free</em> packages should further consult the <url
-id="&url-notification-of-export;" name="rules on notification of
-export"> of non-free software.
- <p>
-This section is for information only and does not constitute legal
-advice. Again, it is strongly recommended that U.S. citizens and
-residents consult a lawyer before doing uploads to non-US.
+<em>Note:</em> non-us was discontinued with release of sarge.
<sect1 id="delayed-incoming">Delayed uploads
<sect1>Other upload queues
<p>
-The scp queues on ftp-master, non-us, and security are mostly unusable
+The scp queues on ftp-master, and security are mostly unusable
due to the login restrictions on those hosts.
<p>
The anonymous queues on ftp.uni-erlangen.de and ftp.uk.debian.org are
package, it must be included in <file>packages-arch-specific</file>, a
list used by the <prgn>wanna-build</prgn> script.
The current version is available as
-<url id="http://cvs.debian.org/srcdep/Packages-arch-specific?rev=HEAD&cvsroot=dak&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">;
+<url id="http://cvs.debian.org/srcdep/Packages-arch-specific?rev=HEAD&cvsroot=dak&content-type=text/vnd.viewcvs-markup">;
please see the top of the file for whom to contact for changes.
</list>
<p>
Most Debian package maintainers are not native English speakers. So,
writing properly phrased templates may not be easy for them.
<p>
-Please use (and abuse) debian-l10n-english@lists.debian.org mailing
+Please use (and abuse) &email-debian-l10n-english; mailing
list. Have your templates proofread.
<p>
Badly written templates give a poor image of your package, of your
<sect2>Be kind to translators
<p>
Debconf templates may be translated. Debconf, along with its sister
-package po-debconf offers a simple framework for getting
+package <prgn>po-debconf</prgn> offers a simple framework for getting
templates translated by translation teams or even individuals.
<p>
-Please use gettext-based templates. Install po-debconf on your
+Please use gettext-based templates. Install <package>po-debconf</package> on your
development system and read its documentation ("man po-debconf" is a
good start).
<p>
translator's name and e-mail addresses are mentioned in the po files
headers.
<p>
+The use of the <prgn>podebconf-report-po</prgn> from the
+po-debconf package is highly recommended to warn translators which
+have incomplete translations and request them for updates.
+ <p>
If in doubt, you may also contact the translation team for a given
language (debian-l10n-xxxxx@lists.debian.org), or the
-debian-i18n@lists.debian.org mailing list.
+&email-debian-i18n; mailing list.
+ <p>
+Calls for translations posted to
+&email-debian-i18n; with the <file>debian/po/templates.pot</file> file
+attached or referenced in a URL are encouraged. Be sure to mentions in
+these calls for new translations which languages you have existing
+translations for, in order to avoid duplicate work.
+ <sect2>Unfuzzy complete translations when correcting typos and spelling
+ <p>
+When the text of a debconf template is corrected and you are
+<strong>sure</strong> that the change does <strong>not</strong> affect
+translations, please be kind to translators and unfuzzy their
+translations.
+ <p>
+If you don't do so, the whole template will not be translated as long
+as a translator will send you an update.
+ <p>
+To <strong>unfuzzy</strong> translations, you can proceed the following way:
+ <enumlist>
+ <item>
+Put all incomplete PO files out of the way. You can check the
+completeness by using (needs the <package>gettext</package> package installed):
+<example>for i in debian/po/*po; do echo -n $i: ; msgfmt -o /dev/null
+--statistics $i; done</example>
+ <item>
+move all files which report either fuzzy strings to a temporary
+place. Files which report no fuzzy strings (only translated and
+untranslated) will be kept in place.
+ <item>
+now <strong>and now only</strong>, modify the template for the typos
+and check again that translation are not impacted (typos, spelling
+errors, sometimes typographical corrections are usually OK)
+ <item>
+run <prgn>debconf-updatepo</prgn>. This will fuzzy all strings
+you modified in translations. You can see this by running the above
+again
+ <item>
+use the following command:
+<example>for i in debian/po/*po; do msgattrib --output-file=$i --clear-fuzzy $i; done</example>
+ <item>
+move back to debian/po the files which showed fuzzy strings in the first step
+ <item>
+run <prgn>debconf-updatepo</prgn> again
+ </enumlist>
<sect2>Do not make assumptions about interfaces
<p>
Templates text should not make reference to widgets belonging to some
meaning for users of graphical interfaces which use checkboxes for
boolean questions.
<p>
+String templates should also avoid mentioning the default values in
+their description. First, because this is redundant with the values
+seen by the users. Also, because these default values may be different
+from the maintainer choices (for instance, when the debconf database
+was preseeded).
+ <p>
More generally speaking, try to avoid referring to user actions.
Just give facts.