1 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
4 - French translation update to latest version
5 - Proofread by Philippe Batailler
7 - Added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation.
9 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
10 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
11 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
12 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
13 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
14 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
15 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
16 right places in the document, closes: #172897
17 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
21 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
23 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
24 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error
25 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
26 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
27 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
28 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
31 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org>
33 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
36 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
38 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
39 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
40 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
41 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
43 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
44 for best practices for documentation
45 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
46 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
47 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
48 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
52 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
54 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
57 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
58 descriptions" moved under there
59 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
60 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
61 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
62 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
63 the document where these tools are discussed
64 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
65 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
66 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
67 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
68 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
69 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
71 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
72 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
73 that can be fixed by DDP folks
74 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
75 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
76 - simply PS and PDF building rules
78 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
80 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
83 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
84 section and adjusted links
85 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
87 - ChangeLog attribution updates
88 - fix typos, closes: #171781
89 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
90 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
91 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
92 for debian/rules", and write an intro
93 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
94 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
95 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
96 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
97 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
98 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
99 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
100 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
101 "Internationalization"
102 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
103 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
104 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
105 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
106 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
107 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
108 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
109 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
110 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
112 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
113 rather useless and broken
114 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
115 names and the first word
116 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
117 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
118 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
120 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
121 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
122 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
124 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
126 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
129 - DDP publishing update
131 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
132 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
133 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
134 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
136 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
138 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
141 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
142 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
143 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
145 - added myself as co-author
146 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
148 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
149 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
151 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
152 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
154 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
156 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
159 - Corrected several errors with —
160 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
161 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
162 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
163 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
164 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
165 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
166 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
168 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
169 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
170 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
171 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
172 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
173 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
174 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
175 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
176 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
178 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
179 descriptions". closes: #158609
180 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
181 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
182 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
183 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
184 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
186 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
187 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
188 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
189 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
190 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
191 - updated the mailing lists section
193 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
194 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
197 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
199 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
202 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
203 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
205 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
207 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
208 Ch "The Debian Archive"
210 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
212 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
213 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
214 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
215 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
216 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
218 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
219 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
220 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
221 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
222 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
223 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
224 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
226 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
227 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
230 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
231 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
232 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
233 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
234 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
235 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
236 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
237 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
238 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
239 work-around with <...>
240 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
241 - update copyright date
242 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
243 - spell check and grammar corrections
247 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
249 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
250 recompile"; closes: #102626
251 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
252 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
253 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
254 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
255 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
257 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
258 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
259 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
261 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
263 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
264 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
265 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
266 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
267 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
268 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
269 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
270 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
271 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
273 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
275 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
277 - updated the list of available architectures.
278 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
279 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
280 of the package and nothing more.
281 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
282 any pain to the ftpmasters.
283 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
284 the use of the delayed queue.
285 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
286 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
288 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
289 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
290 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
291 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
292 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
293 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
294 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
296 - new Sec "Documentation"
297 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
298 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
299 "Being kind to porter" too
300 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
301 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
302 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
303 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
304 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
306 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
307 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
310 - update French translation
312 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
314 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
317 - some grammar corrections
318 - update French translation
320 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
321 anymore; closes: #135559
322 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
324 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
326 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
327 that would be welcome)
328 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
329 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
330 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
331 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
332 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
333 - other minor wording changes
334 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
335 - Ch "Package uploads":
336 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
337 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
338 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
339 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
340 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
341 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
342 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
344 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
346 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
348 * from Martin Michlmayr
349 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
350 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
351 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
353 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
355 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
357 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
359 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
360 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
361 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
364 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
366 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
369 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
371 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
374 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
376 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
377 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
378 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
379 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
380 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
381 talking about uploading to distributions
382 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
383 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
384 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
386 - French translation updated
388 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
389 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
390 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
392 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
394 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
397 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
398 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
401 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
403 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
406 * fix a typo in a link
407 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
408 update documentation accordingly
410 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
411 forwarding bugs upstream
413 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
414 entities which should be used
415 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
416 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
418 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
420 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
422 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
423 * French version: completely up-to-date now
424 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
425 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
427 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
430 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
432 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
434 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
436 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
437 this translation needs updating
438 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
439 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
440 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
442 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
443 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
444 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
446 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
447 included yet, however
449 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
451 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
453 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
455 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
456 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
458 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
460 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
462 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
464 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
465 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
466 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
468 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
470 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
472 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
475 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
476 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
477 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
478 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
479 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
480 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
481 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
482 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
483 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
484 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
485 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
486 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
488 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
489 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
490 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
491 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
492 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
494 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
496 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
497 * update copyright notice for 2001
498 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
499 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
500 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
502 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
504 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
506 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
508 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
510 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
512 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
514 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
516 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
517 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
519 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
520 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
521 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
522 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
523 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
524 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
525 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
526 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
527 could be used if necessary
528 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
529 mention the rsync dupload method
530 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
532 * other small corrections
533 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
534 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
535 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
536 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
538 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
540 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
541 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
543 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
545 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
547 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
548 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
549 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
550 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
552 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
553 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
554 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
555 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
556 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
558 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
560 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
561 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
562 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
563 team (closes: Bug#52906)
564 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
565 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
566 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
568 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
569 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
570 - added a section about the LDAP database
571 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
572 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
574 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
575 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
577 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
579 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
581 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
582 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
583 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
585 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
586 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
587 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
588 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
589 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
590 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
591 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
592 description from developers-reference.sgml
594 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
596 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
598 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
599 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
601 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
603 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
604 releases are available at archive.debian.org
605 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
606 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
607 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
608 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
609 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
610 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
611 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
612 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
614 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
615 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
616 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
617 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
619 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
620 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
621 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
622 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
623 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
624 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
625 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
626 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
627 suggestion from James Troup
628 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
629 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
630 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
631 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
634 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
636 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
638 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
639 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
641 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
643 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
645 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
646 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
647 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
648 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
649 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
650 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
651 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
653 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
655 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
657 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
658 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
659 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
660 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
661 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
662 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
664 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
665 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
667 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
669 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
671 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
673 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
675 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
676 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
677 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
678 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
679 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
681 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
682 with intro; demoted server sections under that
683 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
684 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
686 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
687 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
688 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
689 a normal developer may have access.
691 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
693 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
695 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
696 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
697 step all over each other
699 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
701 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
703 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
704 address for PGP key updates
706 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
708 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
710 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
711 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
712 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
713 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
714 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
716 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
718 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
720 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
721 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
722 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
723 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
724 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
725 <keyring-maint> instead)
726 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
727 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
729 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
731 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
732 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
733 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
735 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
737 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
739 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
740 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
741 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
742 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
743 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
744 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
746 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
747 tighten up the language a bit
748 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
749 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
750 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
751 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
753 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
754 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
755 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
756 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
757 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
758 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
760 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
761 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
762 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
763 about how to depart Debian gracefully
764 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
765 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
766 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
767 number of available packages
768 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
769 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
771 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
773 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
775 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
778 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
780 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
782 * not officially released
783 * more spelling corrections
784 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
786 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
788 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
790 * not officially released
791 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
792 * some PGP-centricity removed
793 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
794 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
795 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
796 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
797 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
798 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
800 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
802 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
804 * not officially released
805 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
806 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
807 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
808 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
809 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
810 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
811 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
812 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
813 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
814 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
815 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
816 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
817 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
818 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
820 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
821 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
823 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
825 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
826 take a couple of weeks
827 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
828 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
829 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
830 excited about it and can't wait
831 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
832 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
834 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
835 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
837 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
838 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
839 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
841 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
843 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
845 * move to 3-level version number:
846 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
847 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
848 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
849 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
850 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
853 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
854 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
855 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
857 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
859 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
860 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
861 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
862 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
863 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
864 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
866 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
868 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
869 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
870 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
871 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
872 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
873 - "The CVS server": new section added
874 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
876 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
877 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
878 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
879 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
880 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
882 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
883 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
884 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
885 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
886 a canonical location?)
887 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
888 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
889 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
890 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
892 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
894 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
895 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
896 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
897 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
899 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
901 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
903 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
904 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
905 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
906 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
907 them. (closes Bug#26948)
908 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
909 and should not be included in this Reference.
910 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
911 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
912 maintainer tools only!
913 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
914 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
915 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
916 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
917 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
918 * Little corrections here and there.
919 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
920 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
923 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
925 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
927 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
928 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
929 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
931 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
932 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
933 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
934 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
935 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
936 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
937 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
938 do prior to uploading
939 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
940 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
942 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
943 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
944 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
945 duties with respect to bugs
946 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
947 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
948 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
950 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
951 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
952 * grammar and markup changes throughout
953 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
954 explicit what is used to build this package
956 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
958 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
961 * version number and date are automatically populated now
962 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
963 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
964 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
965 * utilize the new URL tag
966 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
969 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
971 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
973 * non-maintainer release
974 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
975 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
976 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
977 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
978 text, it can't hurt you.)
979 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
980 reflect this packages version number
981 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
983 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
985 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
989 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
991 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
993 * New version numbering scheme:
995 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
996 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
997 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1000 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1001 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1002 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1003 differ between the manuals.
1005 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1006 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1007 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1008 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1010 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1011 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1013 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1015 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1017 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1019 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1021 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1022 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1024 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1025 (as requested by James Troup)
1027 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1029 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1031 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1033 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1035 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1037 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1039 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1041 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1042 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1043 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1044 the non-maintainer release
1046 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1047 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1048 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1051 - Lots of typos fixed
1053 * Compressed SGML source code
1055 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1056 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1058 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1060 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1062 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1064 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1065 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1066 - Announcing package uploads
1067 * New section about Debian Mentors
1068 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1069 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1070 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1071 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1073 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1075 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1077 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1078 of our FTP server and the development process
1079 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1080 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1081 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1083 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1084 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1085 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1086 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1087 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1088 contacting the maintainer
1089 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1090 a new manual released soon)
1091 * Some minor changes
1092 * Include SGML source in package
1093 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1094 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1096 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1098 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1102 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200