1 developers-reference (3.4.0) UNRELEASED; urgency=low
4 * Update Vcs-* fields after DDP's SVN restructuring. Closes: #483428.
5 * Fix conditions for updates from unstable to testing. Closes: #470754.
6 * linda has been removed. Remove section A.2.2. Closes: #483242.
7 * Co-maintainers are listed in the Uploaders field. Closes: #483230.
8 * Collaborative Maintenance: the 'global part' of debian/control
9 is the first paragraph, about the source package. Closes: #483231.
10 * debian-private archives are on master. Closes: #475531.
11 * Mention Debian Maintainers and the debian-maintainers package.
13 * README.contrib: document that short lines are preferred.
15 * build-rdeps allows to list reverse build-dependencies.
18 [ Marc 'HE' Brockschmidt ]
19 * Replace abused <emphasis> tags with <literal> tags.
20 * In the same spirit, wrap all uses of stable/testing/unstable and
21 release codenames in <literal>
22 * Remove reference to upload queue on auric in section 5.6.5, auric
23 doesn't exist anymore.
24 * Fix several typesetting errors and typos noticed by Sandro Tosi,
25 thanks for the notes! Closes: #483223
26 * Update several bits about release management/testing transitions
27 and release-critical bugs. Closes: #483237, #456494
28 * Update and rewrite the porting guidelines in chapter 5, bringing
29 the dev-ref up to the state of porting in the year 2008. Also
30 fixes several wording issues, such as possible misunderstandings
31 about the need to rebuild uploads. Closes: #483226
32 * Update the instructions for uploads to the (old)stable
33 distributions. Emphasize the importance of contacting the SRM
34 team before upload. Closes: #459343
35 * Update instructions for package removal requests. Closes: #454216
36 * Clarify instructions for bug reassignment, emphasizing the
37 need to inform the maintainers you reassign the bug to. Also
38 hint to using cloned bugs to avoid re-reporting. Heavily based
39 on patch by Marc Haber - thanks for the work! Closes: #484806
40 * Clarify instructions for replacing/renaming binary packages,
41 pointing out that using Provides is sometimes advisable. Closes:
43 * Update description of the madison tool (by replacing it with a
44 description of the dak ls tool). Update the example while we're
46 * Update explanation of best practice for closing bugs, seems to
47 have been forgotten when everything was upgraded to use
48 debbugs version-tracking. Closes: #485969
50 -- Marc 'HE' Brockschmidt <he@debian.org> Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:26:33 +0200
52 developers-reference (3.3.9) unstable; urgency=low
56 - bump standards-version to 3.7.3 (no change)
57 - fix debian/copyright
58 - move debhelper to Build-Depends.
59 - add pdf for French version.
60 * Document changes to stable release management. Closes: #414291
61 * Debconf error templates no longer discouraged. Thanks,
62 Christian Perrier. Closes: #427832
63 * Keyring now uses RT. Closes: #428846
64 * Document -dbg-packages within BPs. Thanks, Joey Hess. Closes: #420540
65 * NMUs now also close bugs. Thanks, Lucas Nussbaum. Closes: #419507
66 * Fix documentation about gender neutral. Closes: #384178
67 * Fix typo. Closes: #405453
68 * More details on how to write documentation. Thanks, Josh Triplett.
70 * Add XS-Vcs-*. Thanks to Stefano Zacchiroli. Closes: #391023
71 * Small brushup to debconf description. Thanks, Thomas Huriaux.
73 * Document Team-Maintainence better. Thanks, Lucas Nussbaum.
75 * Add link to more removal ressources. Thanks, Adam D. Barratt,
76 Justin Pryzby. Closes: #412757, #356720
77 * Repacking source packages need to be documented in copyright.
78 Thanks, Russ Allbery. Closes: #413320
79 * Better describe version of debian native packages NMUs. Closes: #405818
80 * Source, HTML and text are now encoded in UTF-8. Thanks, Jörg Sommer.
82 * Source is now DocBook XML instead of debiandoc. Closes: #374220
85 * Add a link to enrico's excellent Debian Community Guidelines.
86 * Recommend the use of DSA's request tracker instead of mailing them.
87 * Remove reference to #debian-sf, #debian-bsd which don't exist anymore. Put
88 a reference to #debian-dpkg instead.
89 * Remove all stuff concerning non-US.
90 * Update information concerning Alioth.
91 * Update information concerning the Package Tracking System.
92 * Mention Alioth as the main resource for VCS repositories and deprecate
94 * Remove XS- prefix for Vcs-* fields since dpkg now supports them.
95 * Document the Homepage field. Thanks, Christian Perrier. Closes:
97 * Add Vcs-Svn and Vcs-Browser fields pointing to the new SVN
100 -- W. Martin Borgert <debacle@debian.org> Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:16:40 +0000
102 developers-reference (3.3.8) unstable; urgency=low
104 * mia-history is replaced by mia-query. Thanks, Christoph Berg.
106 * fix missing quite. Thanks, Frank Küster. Closes: #365994
107 * use gnugp instead of gpg. Thanks, Justin Pryzby, Jon Dowland.
109 * better destinction between maintainer and developer. Thanks for
110 the suggestion to Colin Tuckley. Closes: #380458
111 * irc.d.o points to oftc. Thanks, Christoph Biedl, Jon Dowland.
113 * Bugs are now always closed thanks to version tracking.
114 Closes: #339552, #353447, #376199
115 * Clarify what "a conflicts b" means in testing migration.
117 * Packages in testing disappear if they're removed from unstable.
118 Thanks, Frank Küster, Al Stone. Closes: #365993
119 * Document only the most recent changelog entry is used. Thanks
120 to Kevin Glynn to the suggestion. Closes: #374738
121 * Add more tools for reverse depends. Close: #376582
122 * delayed-queue on gluck is uploaded more often now. Closes: #397907
123 * stop using capitals, minor fixes, language fixes.
124 Thanks, Thijs Kinkhorst, Colin Tuckley, Russ Allbery.
125 Closes: #368046, #378929, #361744
126 * add CVE Ids to your changelog. Closes: #376961
127 * add reasoning why debconf questions shouldn't be longer than
128 20 lines. Thanks, Thijs Kinkhorst, Christian Perrier, Russ Allbery.
130 * section changing needs re-uploading orig.tar.gz.
131 Thanks, Adam D. Barratt. Closes: #387154
132 * binary files in diffs could be en/decoded with perl.
133 Thanks, Frank Küster. Closes: #397786
134 * Add pointer to new-reject-FAQ. Closes: #324967
135 * Hint to dd-list/whodepends. Closes: #353874
136 * Don't use too generic mail ids. Closes: #355725
137 * pts/summary is actually used. Thanks, Holger Levsen. Closes: #387108
138 * clarify that one should append the NMU-diff to a bug. Closes: #394033
139 * more detailed instructions on binary package removals.
143 - French translation updated to version 3.3.8
145 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:55:44 -0700
147 developers-reference (3.3.7) unstable; urgency=low
150 - adjust information about distributions with reality.
151 - add note on alioth accounts. Thanks, Phillip Kern. Closes: #306630
152 - correct manpage section of dpkg-scanpackages. Closes: #297069
153 - fix RFC 2440 URL. Closes: #308103
154 - add $arch@buildd information. Closes: #295483
155 - link to keyring.d.o for key replacement. Thanks, Martin Michlmayr.
157 - add information about Packages-arch-specific. Thanks, Frank Küster.
159 - add hint about LWN subscription. Thanks, Martin Michlmayr.
161 - more about debconf-style translation. Thanks, Christian Perrier.
163 - non-us discontinued.
164 - document nmu changes wrt version tracking. Thanks, Justin Pryzby.
166 - fix spelling issues. Thanks to various people.
167 Closes: #336146, #326857, #338660
168 - update menu policy helpers. Thanks, Florian Ernst. Closes: #340024
169 - send mia-mail to mia@qa. Thanks, Adam D. Barratt. Closes: #341568
170 - Joerg Jaspert is now freenode contact. Closes: #344303
171 - give a clearer description of the gpg v4-key issues. Thanks,
172 Martin Michlmayr and Peter Palfrader. Closes: #317411
173 - more verbose about Homepage. Closes: #339826
174 - add sarge and etch. Closes: #327682
175 - document severity of RoM-request bugs. Closes: #305947
176 - update FSF address. Closes: #334820
177 - fix P-a-s link. Closes: #341195
178 - reflect binNMU changes. Closes: #349493
179 - new security upload queue. Closes: #352749
180 - fix experimental's sources.list entry. Closes: #347229
181 - remove deprecated "Closes:..." to ACK NMU bug fixes. Closes: #353447
182 - when resigning, gpg-sign your mail. Closes: #348160
183 - make pristine source and repackaged origtargz anchors work.
185 - same number of RC bugs is ok. Closes: #351944
186 - dpkg-source doesn't keep permissions. Thanks, Enrico Zini.
188 - also mention aspell. Closes: #320981
191 - French translation updated to version 3.3.7, proofread by Bernard Adrian
193 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sun, 09 Apr 2006 11:31:52 -0600
195 developers-reference (3.3.6) unstable; urgency=low
198 - closes: and NMUs/experimental uploads. Closes: #284714
199 - madison is on merkel.
200 - more gender-neutral. Closes: #290583, #290584, #263114
201 - explain current incoming. Closes: #290019
202 - remove broken sponsoring URL. Closes: #291698
203 - add handling hints about orig.tar.gz. Thanks, Frank. Closes: #278524
204 - duplicate bug reports should be merged. Closes: #285381
205 - if you're on vacation, please check whether someone needs keysigning.
207 - freenode has developer cloacks. Closes: #285687
208 - cleaned up uploaders / maintainer field
209 - explain how dak detects NMUs. Closes: #292354
210 - add "mass" to lots of bugs. Closes: #292946
211 - sync NM rules with reality.
213 - French translation updated to version 3.3.6
215 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:08:49 -0700
217 developers-reference (3.3.5) unstable; urgency=low
220 - uploads to more than one dist are not possible.
221 - updated upload queues. Closes: #235213
222 - updated URL of vanilla rules files. Closes: #237557, #252048
223 - please speak with stable RM before uploading to stable. Closes: #261464
224 - information on wnpp usage synced with wnpp. Closes: #255298
225 - spelling, grammer fixes.
226 Closes: #202444, #202499, #203202, #203378, #221902, #226208
227 - add hint about partitial key id. Closes: #243968
228 - spohr is restriced, and also ftp-master. Closes: #255814
229 - bpp: Hint about locale generation as non-root. Closes: #208021
230 - bpp: deborphan-compliant transition packages. Closes: #183654
231 - add myself to uploaders.
232 - add chapter about i10n. Closes: #208156
233 - add information about dchroot. Closes: #211845
234 - add information about NEWS.Debian. Closes: #212402
235 - add information about mia-database. Closes: #213961
236 - add link to debian-mentors FAQ.
237 - add verbose information about the package description. Closes: #214792
238 - add hint about -v<version> to experimental. Closes: #232930
239 - update information about yada. Closes: #217956
240 - urgency is sticky. Closes: #261914
241 - updated information about testing distribution. Closes: #266649.
242 - rewrote the NMU section, and
243 + made the possible severities of "target bugs" clearer. Closes: #233088.
244 + mention QA uploads. Closes: #202416.
245 + add -B for binNMUs, and local debsign usage. Closes: #208839.
246 + warning about breaking all-packages by binNMU. Closes: #213348.
247 - add information about gpg usage. Closes: #175815.
248 - make key replacement instructions more details. Closes: #275921
249 - typo and language fixes. Thanks, Era Eriksson. Closes: #277576
250 - add hints about debconf templates from Christian Perrier.
252 - Security uploads get urgency=high
253 - Be even more explicit about not uploading security updates
255 - French translation updated to version 3.3.5
257 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:07:26 +0100
259 developers-reference (3.3.4) unstable; urgency=low
262 - fixed language in the PTS section, prompted by a patch from
263 Romain FRANCOISE, thank you; closes: #197741
264 - updated the mailing lists section (again)
265 - documented Alioth, somewhat
267 - French translation updated to version 3.3.3 (more or less)
268 - proofread by Patrice Karatchentzeff
270 - Don't upload security updates directly to stable
271 - Always include an external reference in security changelog entries
272 - Be careful not to re-use a version number in security uploads
273 - More explicit instructions about what is appropriate for a security
277 - replace <!entity...> with <!ENTITY...> and other SGML hygenics
279 - Release this package as is to flush changes between June and now.
280 Yes, its been an age between releases here, for which I apologize.
281 Since CVS upstream for this package is back, I'm working on closing
282 bugs in this package now, I just wanted to get it out as is before I
285 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 29 Feb 2004 14:09:48 -0500
287 developers-reference (3.3.3) unstable; urgency=low
290 - corrections by Michel Grentzinger
292 - updated documentation concerning the PTS
293 - added a paragraph about the PTS web interface
294 - documented how to add custom news item in the PTS
296 - updates and clarifications to instructions for security bugs
297 - deprecate uploads to stable for security fixes, reference
298 section on security bugs; closes: #196516
299 - use dpkg-buildpackage -B to test binary-arch, not -b;
302 - Sec "Managing sponsored packages": remove unnecessary 'debsign' cmd;
304 - fix debconf-devel(7) man page section; closes: #189512
305 - Sec "Responding to bugs": mention what FTBFS means; closes: #186605
306 - Sec "Distribution directories" renamed "Distributions"
307 - Sec "The testing distribution" moved under Sec "Distribution
308 directories" and renamed "More information about the testing
310 - Secs "Uploads to {stable,testing-proposed-updates}" retitled to make
311 it clear these are special cases
312 - Sec "Uploading to ftp-master": xref to "Delayed incoming";
314 - check compliance with Policy version 3.5.10
316 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Jun 2003 04:08:29 -0400
318 developers-reference (3.3.2) unstable; urgency=low
321 - French translation updated to version 3.3.1
322 - proofread by Philippe Batailler and Patrice Karatchentzeff
324 - French translation requires debiandoc-sgml 1.1.76 or better
326 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Apr 2003 09:48:59 -0400
328 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
331 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
333 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
334 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
335 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
337 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
338 - the synopsis formula changed to either
339 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
341 <package-name> is <synopsis>
343 <package-name> are <synopsis>
345 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
346 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
347 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
348 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
349 package; closes: #187143
351 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 4 Apr 2003 14:26:52 -0500
353 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
356 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
357 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
359 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
361 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
362 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
363 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
364 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
365 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
366 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
367 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
368 right places in the document, closes: #172897
369 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
373 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
375 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
376 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
377 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
378 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
379 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
380 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
381 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
383 - editorial changes on material added in this version
384 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
385 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
386 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
387 closes: #139957, #108416
388 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
389 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
391 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
393 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
396 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
398 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
399 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
400 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
401 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
403 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
404 for best practices for documentation
405 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
406 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
407 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
408 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
410 - spell-checking pass
412 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
414 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
417 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
418 descriptions" moved under there
419 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
420 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
421 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
422 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
423 the document where these tools are discussed
424 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
425 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
426 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
427 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
428 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
429 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
431 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
432 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
433 that can be fixed by DDP folks
434 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
435 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
436 - simply PS and PDF building rules
438 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
440 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
443 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
444 section and adjusted links
445 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
447 - ChangeLog attribution updates
448 - fix typos, closes: #171781
449 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
450 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
451 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
452 for debian/rules", and write an intro
453 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
454 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
455 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
456 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
457 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
458 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
459 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
460 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
461 "Internationalization"
462 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
463 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
464 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
465 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
466 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
467 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
468 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
469 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
470 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
472 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
473 rather useless and broken
474 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
475 names and the first word
476 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
477 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
478 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
480 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
481 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
482 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
484 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
486 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
489 - DDP publishing update
491 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
492 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
493 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
494 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
496 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
498 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
501 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
502 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
503 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
505 - added myself as co-author
506 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
508 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
509 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
511 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
512 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
514 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
516 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
519 - Corrected several errors with —
520 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
521 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
522 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
523 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
524 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
525 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
526 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
528 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
529 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
530 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
531 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
532 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
533 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
534 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
535 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
536 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
538 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
539 descriptions". closes: #158609
540 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
541 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
542 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
543 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
544 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
546 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
547 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
548 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
549 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
550 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
551 - updated the mailing lists section
553 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
554 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
557 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
559 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
562 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
563 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
565 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
567 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
568 Ch "The Debian Archive"
570 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
572 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
573 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
574 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
575 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
576 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
578 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
579 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
580 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
581 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
582 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
583 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
584 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
586 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
587 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
590 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
591 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
592 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
593 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
594 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
595 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
596 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
597 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
598 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
599 work-around with <...>
600 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
601 - update copyright date
602 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
603 - spell check and grammar corrections
607 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
609 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
610 recompile"; closes: #102626
611 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
612 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
613 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
614 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
615 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
617 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
618 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
619 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
621 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
623 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
624 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
625 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
626 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
627 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
628 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
629 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
630 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
631 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
633 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
635 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
637 - updated the list of available architectures.
638 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
639 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
640 of the package and nothing more.
641 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
642 any pain to the ftpmasters.
643 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
644 the use of the delayed queue.
645 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
646 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
648 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
649 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
650 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
651 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
652 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
653 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
654 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
656 - new Sec "Documentation"
657 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
658 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
659 "Being kind to porter" too
660 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
661 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
662 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
663 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
664 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
666 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
667 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
670 - update French translation
672 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
674 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
677 - some grammar corrections
678 - update French translation
680 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
681 anymore; closes: #135559
682 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
684 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
686 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
687 that would be welcome)
688 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
689 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
690 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
691 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
692 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
693 - other minor wording changes
694 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
695 - Ch "Package uploads":
696 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
697 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
698 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
699 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
700 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
701 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
702 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
704 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
706 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
708 * from Martin Michlmayr
709 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
710 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
711 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
713 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
715 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
717 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
719 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
720 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
721 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
724 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
726 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
729 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
731 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
734 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
736 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
737 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
738 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
739 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
740 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
741 talking about uploading to distributions
742 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
743 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
744 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
746 - French translation updated
748 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
749 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
750 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
752 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
754 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
757 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
758 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
761 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
763 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
766 * fix a typo in a link
767 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
768 update documentation accordingly
770 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
771 forwarding bugs upstream
773 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
774 entities which should be used
775 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
776 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
778 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
780 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
782 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
783 * French version: completely up-to-date now
784 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
785 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
787 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
790 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
792 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
794 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
796 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
797 this translation needs updating
798 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
799 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
800 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
802 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
803 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
804 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
806 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
807 included yet, however
809 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
811 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
813 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
815 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
816 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
818 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
820 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
822 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
824 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
825 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
826 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
828 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
830 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
832 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
835 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
836 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
837 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
838 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
839 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
840 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
841 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
842 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
843 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
844 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
845 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
846 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
848 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
849 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
850 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
851 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
852 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
854 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
856 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
857 * update copyright notice for 2001
858 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
859 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
860 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
862 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
864 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
866 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
868 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
870 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
872 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
874 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
876 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
877 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
879 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
880 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
881 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
882 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
883 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
884 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
885 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
886 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
887 could be used if necessary
888 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
889 mention the rsync dupload method
890 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
892 * other small corrections
893 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
894 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
895 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
896 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
898 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
900 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
901 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
903 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
905 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
907 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
908 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
909 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
910 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
912 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
913 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
914 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
915 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
916 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
918 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
920 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
921 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
922 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
923 team (closes: Bug#52906)
924 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
925 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
926 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
928 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
929 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
930 - added a section about the LDAP database
931 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
932 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
934 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
935 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
937 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
939 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
941 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
942 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
943 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
945 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
946 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
947 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
948 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
949 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
950 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
951 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
952 description from developers-reference.sgml
954 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
956 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
958 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
959 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
961 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
963 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
964 releases are available at archive.debian.org
965 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
966 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
967 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
968 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
969 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
970 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
971 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
972 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
974 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
975 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
976 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
977 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
979 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
980 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
981 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
982 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
983 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
984 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
985 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
986 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
987 suggestion from James Troup
988 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
989 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
990 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
991 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
994 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
996 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
998 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
999 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
1001 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
1003 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
1005 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
1006 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
1007 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
1008 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
1009 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
1010 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
1011 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
1013 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
1015 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
1017 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
1018 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
1019 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
1020 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
1021 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
1022 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
1024 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
1025 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
1027 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
1029 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
1031 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
1033 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
1035 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
1036 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
1037 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
1038 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
1039 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
1041 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
1042 with intro; demoted server sections under that
1043 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
1044 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
1046 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
1047 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
1048 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
1049 a normal developer may have access.
1051 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
1053 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
1055 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
1056 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
1057 step all over each other
1059 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
1061 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
1063 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
1064 address for PGP key updates
1066 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
1068 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
1070 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
1071 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
1072 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
1073 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
1074 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
1076 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
1078 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
1080 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
1081 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
1082 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
1083 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
1084 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
1085 <keyring-maint> instead)
1086 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
1087 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
1089 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
1091 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
1092 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
1093 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
1095 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
1097 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1099 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
1100 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
1101 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
1102 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
1103 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
1104 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
1106 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
1107 tighten up the language a bit
1108 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
1109 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
1110 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
1111 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
1113 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
1114 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
1115 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
1116 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
1117 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
1118 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
1120 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
1121 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
1122 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
1123 about how to depart Debian gracefully
1124 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
1125 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
1126 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
1127 number of available packages
1128 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
1129 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
1131 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
1133 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1135 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
1138 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
1140 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1142 * not officially released
1143 * more spelling corrections
1144 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
1146 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
1148 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1150 * not officially released
1151 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
1152 * some PGP-centricity removed
1153 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
1154 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
1155 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
1156 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
1157 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
1158 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
1160 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
1162 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1164 * not officially released
1165 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
1166 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
1167 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
1168 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
1169 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
1170 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
1171 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
1172 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
1173 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
1174 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
1175 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
1176 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
1177 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
1178 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
1180 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
1181 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
1183 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
1185 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
1186 take a couple of weeks
1187 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
1188 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
1189 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
1190 excited about it and can't wait
1191 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
1192 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
1194 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
1195 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
1197 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
1198 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
1199 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
1201 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
1203 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1205 * move to 3-level version number:
1206 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
1207 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
1208 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
1209 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
1210 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
1213 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
1214 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
1215 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
1217 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
1219 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
1220 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
1221 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
1222 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
1223 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
1224 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
1226 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
1228 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
1229 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
1230 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
1231 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
1232 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
1233 - "The CVS server": new section added
1234 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
1236 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
1237 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
1238 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
1239 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
1240 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
1241 with respect to GPG.
1242 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
1243 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
1244 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
1245 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
1246 a canonical location?)
1247 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
1248 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
1249 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
1250 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
1252 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
1254 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
1255 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
1256 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
1257 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
1259 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
1261 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
1263 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
1264 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
1265 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
1266 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
1267 them. (closes Bug#26948)
1268 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
1269 and should not be included in this Reference.
1270 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
1271 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
1272 maintainer tools only!
1273 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
1274 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
1275 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
1276 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
1277 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
1278 * Little corrections here and there.
1279 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
1280 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
1283 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
1285 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
1287 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
1288 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
1289 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
1291 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
1292 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
1293 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
1294 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
1295 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
1296 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
1297 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
1298 do prior to uploading
1299 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
1300 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
1302 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
1303 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
1304 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
1305 duties with respect to bugs
1306 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
1307 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
1308 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
1310 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
1311 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
1312 * grammar and markup changes throughout
1313 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
1314 explicit what is used to build this package
1316 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
1318 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
1321 * version number and date are automatically populated now
1322 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
1323 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
1324 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
1325 * utilize the new URL tag
1326 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1329 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1331 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1333 * non-maintainer release
1334 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1335 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1336 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1337 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1338 text, it can't hurt you.)
1339 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1340 reflect this packages version number
1341 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1343 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1345 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1349 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1351 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1353 * New version numbering scheme:
1355 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1356 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1357 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1360 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1361 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1362 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1363 differ between the manuals.
1365 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1366 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1367 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1368 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1370 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1371 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1373 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1375 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1377 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1379 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1381 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1382 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1384 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1385 (as requested by James Troup)
1387 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1389 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1391 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1393 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1395 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1397 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1399 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1401 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1402 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1403 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1404 the non-maintainer release
1406 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1407 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1408 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1411 - Lots of typos fixed
1413 * Compressed SGML source code
1415 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1416 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1418 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1420 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1422 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1424 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1425 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1426 - Announcing package uploads
1427 * New section about Debian Mentors
1428 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1429 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1430 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1431 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1433 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1435 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1437 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1438 of our FTP server and the development process
1439 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1440 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1441 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1443 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1444 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1445 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1446 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1447 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1448 contacting the maintainer
1449 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1450 a new manual released soon)
1451 * Some minor changes
1452 * Include SGML source in package
1453 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1454 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1456 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1458 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1462 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200