1 developers-reference (3.3.3) unstable; urgency=low
4 - Corrections by Michel Grentzinger
6 - Updated documentation concerning the PTS
7 - Added a paragraph about the PTS web interface
8 - Documented how to add custom news item in the PTS
10 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 2 May 2003 00:57:24 +0200
12 developers-reference (3.3.2) unstable; urgency=low
15 - French translation updated to version 3.3.1
16 - proofread by Philippe Batailler and Patrice Karatchentzeff
18 - French translation requires debiandoc-sgml 1.1.76 or better
20 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Apr 2003 09:48:59 -0400
22 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
25 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
27 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
28 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
29 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
31 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
32 - the synopsis formula changed to either
33 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
35 <package-name> is <synopsis>
37 <package-name> are <synopsis>
39 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
40 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
41 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
42 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
43 package; closes: #187143
45 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 4 Apr 2003 14:26:52 -0500
47 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
50 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
51 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
53 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
55 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
56 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
57 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
58 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
59 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
60 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
61 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
62 right places in the document, closes: #172897
63 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
67 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
69 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
70 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
71 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
72 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
73 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
74 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
75 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
77 - editorial changes on material added in this version
78 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
79 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
80 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
81 closes: #139957, #108416
82 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
83 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
85 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
87 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
90 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
92 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
93 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
94 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
95 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
97 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
98 for best practices for documentation
99 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
100 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
101 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
102 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
104 - spell-checking pass
106 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
108 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
111 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
112 descriptions" moved under there
113 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
114 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
115 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
116 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
117 the document where these tools are discussed
118 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
119 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
120 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
121 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
122 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
123 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
125 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
126 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
127 that can be fixed by DDP folks
128 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
129 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
130 - simply PS and PDF building rules
132 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
134 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
137 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
138 section and adjusted links
139 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
141 - ChangeLog attribution updates
142 - fix typos, closes: #171781
143 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
144 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
145 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
146 for debian/rules", and write an intro
147 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
148 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
149 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
150 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
151 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
152 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
153 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
154 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
155 "Internationalization"
156 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
157 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
158 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
159 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
160 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
161 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
162 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
163 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
164 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
166 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
167 rather useless and broken
168 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
169 names and the first word
170 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
171 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
172 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
174 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
175 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
176 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
178 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
180 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
183 - DDP publishing update
185 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
186 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
187 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
188 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
190 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
192 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
195 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
196 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
197 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
199 - added myself as co-author
200 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
202 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
203 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
205 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
206 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
208 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
210 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
213 - Corrected several errors with —
214 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
215 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
216 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
217 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
218 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
219 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
220 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
222 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
223 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
224 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
225 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
226 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
227 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
228 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
229 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
230 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
232 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
233 descriptions". closes: #158609
234 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
235 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
236 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
237 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
238 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
240 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
241 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
242 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
243 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
244 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
245 - updated the mailing lists section
247 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
248 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
251 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
253 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
256 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
257 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
259 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
261 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
262 Ch "The Debian Archive"
264 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
266 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
267 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
268 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
269 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
270 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
272 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
273 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
274 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
275 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
276 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
277 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
278 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
280 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
281 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
284 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
285 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
286 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
287 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
288 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
289 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
290 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
291 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
292 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
293 work-around with <...>
294 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
295 - update copyright date
296 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
297 - spell check and grammar corrections
301 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
303 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
304 recompile"; closes: #102626
305 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
306 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
307 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
308 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
309 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
311 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
312 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
313 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
315 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
317 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
318 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
319 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
320 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
321 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
322 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
323 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
324 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
325 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
327 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
329 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
331 - updated the list of available architectures.
332 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
333 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
334 of the package and nothing more.
335 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
336 any pain to the ftpmasters.
337 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
338 the use of the delayed queue.
339 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
340 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
342 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
343 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
344 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
345 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
346 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
347 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
348 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
350 - new Sec "Documentation"
351 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
352 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
353 "Being kind to porter" too
354 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
355 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
356 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
357 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
358 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
360 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
361 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
364 - update French translation
366 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
368 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
371 - some grammar corrections
372 - update French translation
374 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
375 anymore; closes: #135559
376 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
378 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
380 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
381 that would be welcome)
382 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
383 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
384 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
385 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
386 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
387 - other minor wording changes
388 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
389 - Ch "Package uploads":
390 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
391 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
392 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
393 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
394 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
395 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
396 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
398 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
400 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
402 * from Martin Michlmayr
403 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
404 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
405 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
407 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
409 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
411 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
413 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
414 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
415 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
418 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
420 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
423 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
425 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
428 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
430 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
431 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
432 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
433 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
434 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
435 talking about uploading to distributions
436 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
437 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
438 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
440 - French translation updated
442 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
443 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
444 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
446 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
448 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
451 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
452 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
455 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
457 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
460 * fix a typo in a link
461 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
462 update documentation accordingly
464 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
465 forwarding bugs upstream
467 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
468 entities which should be used
469 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
470 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
472 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
474 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
476 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
477 * French version: completely up-to-date now
478 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
479 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
481 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
484 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
486 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
488 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
490 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
491 this translation needs updating
492 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
493 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
494 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
496 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
497 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
498 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
500 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
501 included yet, however
503 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
505 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
507 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
509 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
510 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
512 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
514 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
516 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
518 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
519 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
520 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
522 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
524 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
526 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
529 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
530 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
531 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
532 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
533 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
534 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
535 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
536 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
537 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
538 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
539 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
540 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
542 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
543 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
544 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
545 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
546 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
548 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
550 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
551 * update copyright notice for 2001
552 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
553 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
554 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
556 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
558 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
560 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
562 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
564 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
566 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
568 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
570 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
571 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
573 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
574 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
575 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
576 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
577 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
578 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
579 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
580 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
581 could be used if necessary
582 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
583 mention the rsync dupload method
584 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
586 * other small corrections
587 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
588 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
589 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
590 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
592 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
594 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
595 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
597 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
599 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
601 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
602 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
603 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
604 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
606 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
607 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
608 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
609 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
610 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
612 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
614 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
615 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
616 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
617 team (closes: Bug#52906)
618 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
619 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
620 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
622 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
623 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
624 - added a section about the LDAP database
625 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
626 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
628 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
629 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
631 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
633 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
635 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
636 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
637 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
639 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
640 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
641 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
642 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
643 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
644 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
645 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
646 description from developers-reference.sgml
648 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
650 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
652 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
653 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
655 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
657 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
658 releases are available at archive.debian.org
659 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
660 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
661 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
662 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
663 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
664 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
665 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
666 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
668 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
669 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
670 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
671 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
673 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
674 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
675 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
676 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
677 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
678 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
679 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
680 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
681 suggestion from James Troup
682 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
683 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
684 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
685 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
688 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
690 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
692 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
693 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
695 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
697 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
699 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
700 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
701 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
702 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
703 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
704 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
705 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
707 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
709 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
711 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
712 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
713 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
714 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
715 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
716 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
718 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
719 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
721 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
723 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
725 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
727 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
729 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
730 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
731 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
732 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
733 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
735 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
736 with intro; demoted server sections under that
737 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
738 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
740 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
741 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
742 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
743 a normal developer may have access.
745 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
747 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
749 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
750 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
751 step all over each other
753 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
755 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
757 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
758 address for PGP key updates
760 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
762 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
764 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
765 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
766 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
767 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
768 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
770 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
772 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
774 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
775 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
776 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
777 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
778 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
779 <keyring-maint> instead)
780 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
781 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
783 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
785 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
786 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
787 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
789 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
791 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
793 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
794 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
795 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
796 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
797 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
798 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
800 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
801 tighten up the language a bit
802 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
803 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
804 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
805 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
807 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
808 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
809 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
810 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
811 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
812 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
814 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
815 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
816 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
817 about how to depart Debian gracefully
818 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
819 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
820 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
821 number of available packages
822 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
823 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
825 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
827 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
829 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
832 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
834 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
836 * not officially released
837 * more spelling corrections
838 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
840 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
842 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
844 * not officially released
845 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
846 * some PGP-centricity removed
847 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
848 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
849 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
850 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
851 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
852 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
854 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
856 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
858 * not officially released
859 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
860 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
861 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
862 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
863 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
864 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
865 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
866 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
867 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
868 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
869 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
870 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
871 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
872 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
874 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
875 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
877 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
879 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
880 take a couple of weeks
881 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
882 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
883 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
884 excited about it and can't wait
885 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
886 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
888 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
889 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
891 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
892 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
893 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
895 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
897 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
899 * move to 3-level version number:
900 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
901 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
902 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
903 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
904 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
907 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
908 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
909 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
911 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
913 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
914 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
915 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
916 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
917 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
918 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
920 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
922 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
923 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
924 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
925 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
926 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
927 - "The CVS server": new section added
928 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
930 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
931 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
932 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
933 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
934 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
936 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
937 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
938 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
939 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
940 a canonical location?)
941 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
942 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
943 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
944 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
946 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
948 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
949 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
950 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
951 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
953 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
955 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
957 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
958 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
959 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
960 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
961 them. (closes Bug#26948)
962 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
963 and should not be included in this Reference.
964 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
965 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
966 maintainer tools only!
967 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
968 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
969 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
970 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
971 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
972 * Little corrections here and there.
973 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
974 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
977 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
979 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
981 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
982 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
983 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
985 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
986 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
987 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
988 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
989 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
990 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
991 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
992 do prior to uploading
993 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
994 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
996 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
997 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
998 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
999 duties with respect to bugs
1000 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
1001 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
1002 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
1004 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
1005 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
1006 * grammar and markup changes throughout
1007 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
1008 explicit what is used to build this package
1010 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
1012 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
1015 * version number and date are automatically populated now
1016 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
1017 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
1018 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
1019 * utilize the new URL tag
1020 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1023 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1025 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1027 * non-maintainer release
1028 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1029 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1030 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1031 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1032 text, it can't hurt you.)
1033 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1034 reflect this packages version number
1035 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1037 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1039 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1043 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1045 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1047 * New version numbering scheme:
1049 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1050 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1051 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1054 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1055 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1056 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1057 differ between the manuals.
1059 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1060 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1061 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1062 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1064 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1065 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1067 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1069 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1071 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1073 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1075 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1076 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1078 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1079 (as requested by James Troup)
1081 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1083 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1085 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1087 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1089 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1091 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1093 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1095 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1096 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1097 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1098 the non-maintainer release
1100 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1101 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1102 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1105 - Lots of typos fixed
1107 * Compressed SGML source code
1109 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1110 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1112 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1114 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1116 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1118 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1119 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1120 - Announcing package uploads
1121 * New section about Debian Mentors
1122 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1123 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1124 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1125 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1127 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1129 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1131 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1132 of our FTP server and the development process
1133 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1134 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1135 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1137 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1138 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1139 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1140 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1141 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1142 contacting the maintainer
1143 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1144 a new manual released soon)
1145 * Some minor changes
1146 * Include SGML source in package
1147 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1148 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1150 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1152 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1156 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200