1 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
4 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
6 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
7 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
8 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
10 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
11 - the synopsis formula changed to either
12 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
14 <package-name> is <synopsis>
16 <package-name> are <synopsis>
18 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
19 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
20 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
21 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
22 package; closes: #187143
24 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 2 Apr 2003 15:01:07 -0500
26 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
29 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
30 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
32 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
34 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
35 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
36 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
37 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
38 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
39 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
40 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
41 right places in the document, closes: #172897
42 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
46 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
48 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
49 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
50 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
51 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
52 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
53 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
54 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
56 - editorial changes on material added in this version
57 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
58 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
59 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
60 closes: #139957, #108416
61 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
62 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
64 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
66 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
69 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
71 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
72 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
73 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
74 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
76 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
77 for best practices for documentation
78 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
79 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
80 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
81 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
85 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
87 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
90 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
91 descriptions" moved under there
92 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
93 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
94 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
95 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
96 the document where these tools are discussed
97 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
98 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
99 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
100 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
101 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
102 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
104 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
105 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
106 that can be fixed by DDP folks
107 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
108 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
109 - simply PS and PDF building rules
111 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
113 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
116 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
117 section and adjusted links
118 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
120 - ChangeLog attribution updates
121 - fix typos, closes: #171781
122 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
123 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
124 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
125 for debian/rules", and write an intro
126 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
127 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
128 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
129 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
130 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
131 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
132 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
133 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
134 "Internationalization"
135 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
136 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
137 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
138 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
139 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
140 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
141 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
142 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
143 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
145 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
146 rather useless and broken
147 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
148 names and the first word
149 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
150 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
151 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
153 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
154 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
155 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
157 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
159 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
162 - DDP publishing update
164 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
165 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
166 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
167 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
169 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
171 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
174 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
175 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
176 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
178 - added myself as co-author
179 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
181 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
182 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
184 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
185 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
187 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
189 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
192 - Corrected several errors with —
193 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
194 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
195 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
196 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
197 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
198 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
199 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
201 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
202 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
203 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
204 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
205 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
206 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
207 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
208 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
209 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
211 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
212 descriptions". closes: #158609
213 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
214 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
215 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
216 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
217 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
219 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
220 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
221 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
222 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
223 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
224 - updated the mailing lists section
226 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
227 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
230 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
232 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
235 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
236 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
238 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
240 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
241 Ch "The Debian Archive"
243 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
245 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
246 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
247 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
248 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
249 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
251 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
252 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
253 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
254 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
255 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
256 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
257 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
259 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
260 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
263 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
264 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
265 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
266 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
267 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
268 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
269 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
270 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
271 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
272 work-around with <...>
273 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
274 - update copyright date
275 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
276 - spell check and grammar corrections
280 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
282 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
283 recompile"; closes: #102626
284 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
285 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
286 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
287 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
288 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
290 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
291 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
292 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
294 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
296 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
297 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
298 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
299 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
300 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
301 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
302 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
303 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
304 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
306 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
308 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
310 - updated the list of available architectures.
311 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
312 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
313 of the package and nothing more.
314 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
315 any pain to the ftpmasters.
316 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
317 the use of the delayed queue.
318 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
319 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
321 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
322 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
323 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
324 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
325 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
326 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
327 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
329 - new Sec "Documentation"
330 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
331 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
332 "Being kind to porter" too
333 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
334 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
335 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
336 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
337 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
339 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
340 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
343 - update French translation
345 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
347 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
350 - some grammar corrections
351 - update French translation
353 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
354 anymore; closes: #135559
355 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
357 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
359 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
360 that would be welcome)
361 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
362 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
363 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
364 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
365 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
366 - other minor wording changes
367 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
368 - Ch "Package uploads":
369 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
370 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
371 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
372 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
373 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
374 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
375 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
377 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
379 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
381 * from Martin Michlmayr
382 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
383 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
384 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
386 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
388 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
390 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
392 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
393 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
394 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
397 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
399 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
402 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
404 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
407 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
409 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
410 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
411 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
412 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
413 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
414 talking about uploading to distributions
415 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
416 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
417 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
419 - French translation updated
421 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
422 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
423 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
425 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
427 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
430 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
431 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
434 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
436 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
439 * fix a typo in a link
440 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
441 update documentation accordingly
443 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
444 forwarding bugs upstream
446 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
447 entities which should be used
448 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
449 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
451 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
453 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
455 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
456 * French version: completely up-to-date now
457 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
458 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
460 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
463 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
465 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
467 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
469 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
470 this translation needs updating
471 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
472 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
473 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
475 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
476 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
477 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
479 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
480 included yet, however
482 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
484 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
486 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
488 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
489 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
491 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
493 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
495 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
497 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
498 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
499 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
501 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
503 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
505 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
508 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
509 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
510 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
511 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
512 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
513 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
514 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
515 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
516 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
517 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
518 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
519 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
521 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
522 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
523 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
524 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
525 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
527 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
529 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
530 * update copyright notice for 2001
531 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
532 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
533 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
535 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
537 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
539 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
541 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
543 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
545 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
547 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
549 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
550 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
552 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
553 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
554 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
555 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
556 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
557 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
558 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
559 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
560 could be used if necessary
561 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
562 mention the rsync dupload method
563 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
565 * other small corrections
566 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
567 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
568 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
569 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
571 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
573 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
574 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
576 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
578 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
580 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
581 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
582 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
583 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
585 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
586 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
587 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
588 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
589 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
591 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
593 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
594 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
595 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
596 team (closes: Bug#52906)
597 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
598 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
599 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
601 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
602 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
603 - added a section about the LDAP database
604 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
605 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
607 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
608 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
610 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
612 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
614 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
615 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
616 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
618 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
619 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
620 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
621 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
622 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
623 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
624 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
625 description from developers-reference.sgml
627 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
629 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
631 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
632 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
634 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
636 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
637 releases are available at archive.debian.org
638 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
639 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
640 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
641 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
642 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
643 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
644 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
645 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
647 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
648 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
649 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
650 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
652 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
653 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
654 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
655 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
656 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
657 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
658 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
659 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
660 suggestion from James Troup
661 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
662 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
663 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
664 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
667 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
669 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
671 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
672 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
674 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
676 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
678 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
679 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
680 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
681 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
682 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
683 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
684 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
686 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
688 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
690 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
691 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
692 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
693 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
694 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
695 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
697 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
698 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
700 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
702 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
704 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
706 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
708 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
709 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
710 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
711 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
712 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
714 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
715 with intro; demoted server sections under that
716 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
717 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
719 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
720 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
721 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
722 a normal developer may have access.
724 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
726 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
728 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
729 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
730 step all over each other
732 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
734 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
736 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
737 address for PGP key updates
739 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
741 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
743 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
744 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
745 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
746 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
747 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
749 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
751 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
753 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
754 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
755 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
756 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
757 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
758 <keyring-maint> instead)
759 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
760 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
762 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
764 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
765 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
766 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
768 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
770 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
772 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
773 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
774 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
775 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
776 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
777 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
779 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
780 tighten up the language a bit
781 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
782 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
783 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
784 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
786 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
787 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
788 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
789 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
790 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
791 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
793 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
794 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
795 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
796 about how to depart Debian gracefully
797 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
798 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
799 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
800 number of available packages
801 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
802 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
804 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
806 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
808 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
811 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
813 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
815 * not officially released
816 * more spelling corrections
817 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
819 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
821 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
823 * not officially released
824 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
825 * some PGP-centricity removed
826 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
827 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
828 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
829 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
830 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
831 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
833 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
835 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
837 * not officially released
838 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
839 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
840 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
841 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
842 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
843 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
844 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
845 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
846 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
847 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
848 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
849 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
850 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
851 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
853 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
854 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
856 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
858 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
859 take a couple of weeks
860 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
861 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
862 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
863 excited about it and can't wait
864 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
865 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
867 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
868 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
870 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
871 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
872 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
874 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
876 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
878 * move to 3-level version number:
879 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
880 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
881 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
882 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
883 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
886 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
887 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
888 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
890 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
892 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
893 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
894 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
895 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
896 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
897 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
899 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
901 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
902 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
903 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
904 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
905 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
906 - "The CVS server": new section added
907 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
909 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
910 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
911 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
912 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
913 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
915 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
916 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
917 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
918 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
919 a canonical location?)
920 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
921 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
922 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
923 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
925 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
927 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
928 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
929 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
930 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
932 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
934 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
936 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
937 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
938 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
939 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
940 them. (closes Bug#26948)
941 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
942 and should not be included in this Reference.
943 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
944 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
945 maintainer tools only!
946 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
947 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
948 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
949 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
950 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
951 * Little corrections here and there.
952 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
953 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
956 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
958 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
960 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
961 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
962 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
964 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
965 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
966 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
967 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
968 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
969 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
970 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
971 do prior to uploading
972 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
973 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
975 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
976 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
977 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
978 duties with respect to bugs
979 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
980 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
981 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
983 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
984 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
985 * grammar and markup changes throughout
986 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
987 explicit what is used to build this package
989 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
991 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
994 * version number and date are automatically populated now
995 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
996 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
997 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
998 * utilize the new URL tag
999 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1002 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1004 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1006 * non-maintainer release
1007 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1008 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1009 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1010 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1011 text, it can't hurt you.)
1012 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1013 reflect this packages version number
1014 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1016 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1018 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1022 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1024 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1026 * New version numbering scheme:
1028 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1029 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1030 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1033 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1034 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1035 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1036 differ between the manuals.
1038 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1039 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1040 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1041 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1043 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1044 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1046 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1048 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1050 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1052 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1054 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1055 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1057 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1058 (as requested by James Troup)
1060 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1062 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1064 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1066 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1068 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1070 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1072 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1074 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1075 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1076 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1077 the non-maintainer release
1079 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1080 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1081 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1084 - Lots of typos fixed
1086 * Compressed SGML source code
1088 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1089 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1091 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1093 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1095 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1097 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1098 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1099 - Announcing package uploads
1100 * New section about Debian Mentors
1101 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1102 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1103 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1104 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1106 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1108 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1110 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1111 of our FTP server and the development process
1112 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1113 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1114 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1116 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1117 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1118 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1119 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1120 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1121 contacting the maintainer
1122 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1123 a new manual released soon)
1124 * Some minor changes
1125 * Include SGML source in package
1126 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1127 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1129 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1131 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1135 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200