1 developers-reference (3.3.3) unstable; urgency=low
5 - corrections by Michel Grentzinger
7 - updated documentation concerning the PTS
8 - added a paragraph about the PTS web interface
9 - documented how to add custom news item in the PTS
11 - updates and clarifications to instructions for security bugs
12 - deprecate uploads to stable for security fixes, reference
13 section on security bugs; closes: #196516
14 - use dpkg-buildpackage -B to test binary-arch, not -b;
17 - Sec "Managing sponsored packages": remove unnecessary 'debsign' cmd;
19 - fix debconf-devel(7) man page section; closes: #189512
20 - Sec "Distribution directories" renamed "Distributions"
21 - Sec "The testing distribution" moved under Sec "Distribution
22 directories" and renamed "More information about the testing
24 - Secs "Uploads to {stable,testing-proposed-updates}" retitled to make
25 it clear these are special cases
27 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Jun 2003 03:11:42 -0400
29 developers-reference (3.3.2) unstable; urgency=low
32 - French translation updated to version 3.3.1
33 - proofread by Philippe Batailler and Patrice Karatchentzeff
35 - French translation requires debiandoc-sgml 1.1.76 or better
37 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Apr 2003 09:48:59 -0400
39 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
42 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
44 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
45 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
46 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
48 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
49 - the synopsis formula changed to either
50 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
52 <package-name> is <synopsis>
54 <package-name> are <synopsis>
56 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
57 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
58 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
59 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
60 package; closes: #187143
62 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 4 Apr 2003 14:26:52 -0500
64 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
67 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
68 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
70 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
72 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
73 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
74 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
75 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
76 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
77 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
78 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
79 right places in the document, closes: #172897
80 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
84 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
86 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
87 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
88 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
89 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
90 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
91 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
92 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
94 - editorial changes on material added in this version
95 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
96 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
97 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
98 closes: #139957, #108416
99 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
100 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
102 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
104 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
107 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
109 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
110 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
111 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
112 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
114 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
115 for best practices for documentation
116 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
117 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
118 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
119 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
121 - spell-checking pass
123 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
125 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
128 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
129 descriptions" moved under there
130 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
131 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
132 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
133 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
134 the document where these tools are discussed
135 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
136 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
137 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
138 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
139 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
140 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
142 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
143 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
144 that can be fixed by DDP folks
145 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
146 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
147 - simply PS and PDF building rules
149 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
151 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
154 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
155 section and adjusted links
156 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
158 - ChangeLog attribution updates
159 - fix typos, closes: #171781
160 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
161 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
162 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
163 for debian/rules", and write an intro
164 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
165 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
166 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
167 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
168 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
169 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
170 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
171 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
172 "Internationalization"
173 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
174 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
175 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
176 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
177 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
178 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
179 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
180 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
181 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
183 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
184 rather useless and broken
185 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
186 names and the first word
187 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
188 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
189 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
191 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
192 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
193 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
195 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
197 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
200 - DDP publishing update
202 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
203 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
204 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
205 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
207 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
209 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
212 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
213 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
214 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
216 - added myself as co-author
217 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
219 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
220 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
222 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
223 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
225 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
227 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
230 - Corrected several errors with —
231 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
232 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
233 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
234 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
235 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
236 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
237 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
239 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
240 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
241 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
242 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
243 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
244 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
245 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
246 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
247 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
249 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
250 descriptions". closes: #158609
251 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
252 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
253 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
254 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
255 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
257 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
258 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
259 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
260 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
261 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
262 - updated the mailing lists section
264 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
265 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
268 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
270 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
273 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
274 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
276 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
278 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
279 Ch "The Debian Archive"
281 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
283 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
284 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
285 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
286 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
287 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
289 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
290 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
291 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
292 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
293 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
294 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
295 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
297 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
298 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
301 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
302 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
303 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
304 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
305 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
306 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
307 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
308 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
309 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
310 work-around with <...>
311 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
312 - update copyright date
313 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
314 - spell check and grammar corrections
318 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
320 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
321 recompile"; closes: #102626
322 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
323 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
324 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
325 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
326 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
328 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
329 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
330 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
332 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
334 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
335 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
336 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
337 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
338 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
339 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
340 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
341 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
342 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
344 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
346 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
348 - updated the list of available architectures.
349 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
350 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
351 of the package and nothing more.
352 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
353 any pain to the ftpmasters.
354 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
355 the use of the delayed queue.
356 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
357 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
359 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
360 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
361 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
362 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
363 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
364 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
365 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
367 - new Sec "Documentation"
368 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
369 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
370 "Being kind to porter" too
371 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
372 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
373 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
374 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
375 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
377 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
378 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
381 - update French translation
383 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
385 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
388 - some grammar corrections
389 - update French translation
391 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
392 anymore; closes: #135559
393 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
395 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
397 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
398 that would be welcome)
399 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
400 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
401 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
402 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
403 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
404 - other minor wording changes
405 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
406 - Ch "Package uploads":
407 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
408 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
409 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
410 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
411 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
412 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
413 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
415 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
417 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
419 * from Martin Michlmayr
420 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
421 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
422 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
424 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
426 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
428 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
430 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
431 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
432 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
435 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
437 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
440 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
442 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
445 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
447 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
448 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
449 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
450 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
451 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
452 talking about uploading to distributions
453 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
454 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
455 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
457 - French translation updated
459 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
460 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
461 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
463 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
465 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
468 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
469 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
472 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
474 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
477 * fix a typo in a link
478 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
479 update documentation accordingly
481 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
482 forwarding bugs upstream
484 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
485 entities which should be used
486 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
487 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
489 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
491 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
493 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
494 * French version: completely up-to-date now
495 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
496 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
498 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
501 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
503 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
505 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
507 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
508 this translation needs updating
509 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
510 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
511 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
513 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
514 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
515 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
517 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
518 included yet, however
520 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
522 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
524 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
526 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
527 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
529 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
531 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
533 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
535 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
536 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
537 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
539 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
541 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
543 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
546 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
547 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
548 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
549 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
550 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
551 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
552 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
553 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
554 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
555 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
556 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
557 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
559 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
560 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
561 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
562 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
563 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
565 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
567 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
568 * update copyright notice for 2001
569 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
570 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
571 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
573 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
575 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
577 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
579 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
581 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
583 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
585 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
587 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
588 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
590 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
591 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
592 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
593 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
594 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
595 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
596 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
597 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
598 could be used if necessary
599 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
600 mention the rsync dupload method
601 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
603 * other small corrections
604 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
605 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
606 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
607 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
609 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
611 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
612 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
614 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
616 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
618 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
619 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
620 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
621 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
623 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
624 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
625 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
626 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
627 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
629 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
631 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
632 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
633 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
634 team (closes: Bug#52906)
635 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
636 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
637 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
639 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
640 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
641 - added a section about the LDAP database
642 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
643 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
645 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
646 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
648 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
650 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
652 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
653 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
654 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
656 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
657 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
658 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
659 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
660 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
661 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
662 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
663 description from developers-reference.sgml
665 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
667 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
669 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
670 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
672 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
674 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
675 releases are available at archive.debian.org
676 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
677 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
678 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
679 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
680 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
681 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
682 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
683 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
685 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
686 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
687 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
688 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
690 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
691 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
692 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
693 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
694 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
695 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
696 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
697 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
698 suggestion from James Troup
699 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
700 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
701 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
702 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
705 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
707 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
709 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
710 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
712 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
714 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
716 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
717 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
718 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
719 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
720 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
721 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
722 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
724 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
726 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
728 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
729 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
730 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
731 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
732 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
733 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
735 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
736 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
738 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
740 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
742 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
744 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
746 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
747 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
748 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
749 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
750 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
752 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
753 with intro; demoted server sections under that
754 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
755 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
757 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
758 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
759 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
760 a normal developer may have access.
762 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
764 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
766 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
767 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
768 step all over each other
770 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
772 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
774 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
775 address for PGP key updates
777 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
779 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
781 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
782 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
783 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
784 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
785 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
787 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
789 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
791 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
792 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
793 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
794 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
795 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
796 <keyring-maint> instead)
797 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
798 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
800 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
802 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
803 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
804 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
806 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
808 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
810 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
811 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
812 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
813 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
814 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
815 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
817 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
818 tighten up the language a bit
819 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
820 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
821 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
822 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
824 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
825 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
826 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
827 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
828 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
829 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
831 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
832 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
833 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
834 about how to depart Debian gracefully
835 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
836 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
837 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
838 number of available packages
839 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
840 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
842 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
844 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
846 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
849 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
851 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
853 * not officially released
854 * more spelling corrections
855 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
857 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
859 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
861 * not officially released
862 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
863 * some PGP-centricity removed
864 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
865 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
866 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
867 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
868 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
869 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
871 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
873 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
875 * not officially released
876 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
877 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
878 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
879 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
880 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
881 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
882 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
883 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
884 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
885 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
886 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
887 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
888 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
889 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
891 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
892 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
894 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
896 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
897 take a couple of weeks
898 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
899 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
900 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
901 excited about it and can't wait
902 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
903 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
905 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
906 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
908 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
909 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
910 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
912 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
914 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
916 * move to 3-level version number:
917 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
918 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
919 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
920 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
921 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
924 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
925 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
926 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
928 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
930 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
931 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
932 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
933 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
934 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
935 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
937 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
939 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
940 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
941 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
942 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
943 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
944 - "The CVS server": new section added
945 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
947 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
948 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
949 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
950 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
951 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
953 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
954 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
955 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
956 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
957 a canonical location?)
958 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
959 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
960 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
961 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
963 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
965 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
966 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
967 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
968 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
970 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
972 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
974 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
975 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
976 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
977 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
978 them. (closes Bug#26948)
979 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
980 and should not be included in this Reference.
981 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
982 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
983 maintainer tools only!
984 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
985 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
986 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
987 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
988 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
989 * Little corrections here and there.
990 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
991 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
994 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
996 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
998 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
999 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
1000 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
1002 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
1003 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
1004 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
1005 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
1006 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
1007 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
1008 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
1009 do prior to uploading
1010 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
1011 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
1013 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
1014 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
1015 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
1016 duties with respect to bugs
1017 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
1018 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
1019 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
1021 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
1022 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
1023 * grammar and markup changes throughout
1024 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
1025 explicit what is used to build this package
1027 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
1029 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
1032 * version number and date are automatically populated now
1033 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
1034 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
1035 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
1036 * utilize the new URL tag
1037 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1040 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1042 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1044 * non-maintainer release
1045 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1046 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1047 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1048 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1049 text, it can't hurt you.)
1050 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1051 reflect this packages version number
1052 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1054 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1056 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1060 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1062 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1064 * New version numbering scheme:
1066 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1067 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1068 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1071 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1072 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1073 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1074 differ between the manuals.
1076 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1077 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1078 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1079 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1081 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1082 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1084 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1086 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1088 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1090 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1092 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1093 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1095 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1096 (as requested by James Troup)
1098 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1100 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1102 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1104 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1106 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1108 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1110 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1112 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1113 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1114 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1115 the non-maintainer release
1117 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1118 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1119 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1122 - Lots of typos fixed
1124 * Compressed SGML source code
1126 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1127 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1129 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1131 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1133 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1135 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1136 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1137 - Announcing package uploads
1138 * New section about Debian Mentors
1139 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1140 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1141 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1142 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1144 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1146 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1148 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1149 of our FTP server and the development process
1150 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1151 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1152 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1154 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1155 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1156 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1157 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1158 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1159 contacting the maintainer
1160 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1161 a new manual released soon)
1162 * Some minor changes
1163 * Include SGML source in package
1164 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1165 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1167 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1169 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1173 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200