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 - updates and clarifications to instructions for security bugs
11 - deprecate uploads to stable for security fixes, reference
12 section on security bugs; closes: #196516
13 - use dpkg-buildpackage -B to test binary-arch, not -b;
16 - Sec "Managing sponsored packages": remove unnecessary 'debsign' cmd;
18 - fix debconf-devel(7) man page section; closes: #189512
19 - Sec "Responding to bugs": mention what FTBFS means; closes: #186605
20 - Sec "Distribution directories" renamed "Distributions"
21 - Sec "The testing distribution" moved under Sec "Distribution
22 directories" and renamed "More information about the testing
24 - Secs "Uploads to {stable,testing-proposed-updates}" retitled to make
25 it clear these are special cases
26 - Sec "Uploading to ftp-master": xref to "Delayed incoming";
29 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Jun 2003 04:06:24 -0400
31 developers-reference (3.3.2) unstable; urgency=low
34 - French translation updated to version 3.3.1
35 - proofread by Philippe Batailler and Patrice Karatchentzeff
37 - French translation requires debiandoc-sgml 1.1.76 or better
39 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Apr 2003 09:48:59 -0400
41 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
44 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
46 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
47 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
48 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
50 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
51 - the synopsis formula changed to either
52 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
54 <package-name> is <synopsis>
56 <package-name> are <synopsis>
58 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
59 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
60 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
61 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
62 package; closes: #187143
64 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 4 Apr 2003 14:26:52 -0500
66 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
69 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
70 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
72 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
74 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
75 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
76 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
77 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
78 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
79 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
80 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
81 right places in the document, closes: #172897
82 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
86 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
88 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
89 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
90 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
91 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
92 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
93 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
94 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
96 - editorial changes on material added in this version
97 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
98 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
99 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
100 closes: #139957, #108416
101 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
102 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
104 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
106 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
109 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
111 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
112 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
113 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
114 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
116 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
117 for best practices for documentation
118 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
119 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
120 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
121 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
123 - spell-checking pass
125 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
127 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
130 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
131 descriptions" moved under there
132 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
133 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
134 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
135 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
136 the document where these tools are discussed
137 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
138 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
139 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
140 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
141 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
142 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
144 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
145 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
146 that can be fixed by DDP folks
147 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
148 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
149 - simply PS and PDF building rules
151 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
153 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
156 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
157 section and adjusted links
158 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
160 - ChangeLog attribution updates
161 - fix typos, closes: #171781
162 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
163 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
164 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
165 for debian/rules", and write an intro
166 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
167 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
168 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
169 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
170 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
171 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
172 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
173 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
174 "Internationalization"
175 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
176 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
177 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
178 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
179 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
180 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
181 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
182 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
183 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
185 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
186 rather useless and broken
187 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
188 names and the first word
189 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
190 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
191 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
193 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
194 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
195 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
197 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
199 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
202 - DDP publishing update
204 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
205 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
206 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
207 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
209 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
211 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
214 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
215 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
216 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
218 - added myself as co-author
219 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
221 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
222 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
224 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
225 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
227 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
229 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
232 - Corrected several errors with —
233 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
234 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
235 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
236 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
237 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
238 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
239 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
241 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
242 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
243 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
244 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
245 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
246 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
247 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
248 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
249 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
251 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
252 descriptions". closes: #158609
253 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
254 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
255 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
256 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
257 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
259 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
260 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
261 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
262 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
263 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
264 - updated the mailing lists section
266 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
267 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
270 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
272 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
275 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
276 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
278 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
280 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
281 Ch "The Debian Archive"
283 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
285 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
286 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
287 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
288 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
289 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
291 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
292 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
293 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
294 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
295 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
296 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
297 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
299 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
300 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
303 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
304 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
305 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
306 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
307 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
308 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
309 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
310 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
311 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
312 work-around with <...>
313 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
314 - update copyright date
315 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
316 - spell check and grammar corrections
320 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
322 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
323 recompile"; closes: #102626
324 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
325 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
326 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
327 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
328 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
330 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
331 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
332 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
334 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
336 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
337 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
338 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
339 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
340 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
341 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
342 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
343 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
344 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
346 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
348 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
350 - updated the list of available architectures.
351 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
352 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
353 of the package and nothing more.
354 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
355 any pain to the ftpmasters.
356 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
357 the use of the delayed queue.
358 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
359 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
361 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
362 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
363 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
364 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
365 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
366 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
367 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
369 - new Sec "Documentation"
370 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
371 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
372 "Being kind to porter" too
373 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
374 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
375 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
376 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
377 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
379 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
380 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
383 - update French translation
385 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
387 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
390 - some grammar corrections
391 - update French translation
393 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
394 anymore; closes: #135559
395 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
397 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
399 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
400 that would be welcome)
401 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
402 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
403 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
404 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
405 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
406 - other minor wording changes
407 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
408 - Ch "Package uploads":
409 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
410 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
411 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
412 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
413 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
414 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
415 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
417 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
419 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
421 * from Martin Michlmayr
422 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
423 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
424 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
426 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
428 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
430 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
432 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
433 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
434 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
437 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
439 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
442 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
444 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
447 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
449 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
450 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
451 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
452 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
453 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
454 talking about uploading to distributions
455 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
456 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
457 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
459 - French translation updated
461 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
462 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
463 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
465 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
467 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
470 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
471 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
474 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
476 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
479 * fix a typo in a link
480 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
481 update documentation accordingly
483 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
484 forwarding bugs upstream
486 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
487 entities which should be used
488 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
489 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
491 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
493 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
495 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
496 * French version: completely up-to-date now
497 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
498 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
500 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
503 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
505 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
507 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
509 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
510 this translation needs updating
511 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
512 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
513 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
515 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
516 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
517 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
519 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
520 included yet, however
522 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
524 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
526 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
528 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
529 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
531 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
533 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
535 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
537 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
538 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
539 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
541 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
543 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
545 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
548 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
549 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
550 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
551 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
552 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
553 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
554 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
555 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
556 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
557 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
558 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
559 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
561 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
562 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
563 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
564 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
565 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
567 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
569 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
570 * update copyright notice for 2001
571 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
572 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
573 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
575 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
577 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
579 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
581 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
583 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
585 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
587 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
589 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
590 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
592 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
593 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
594 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
595 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
596 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
597 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
598 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
599 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
600 could be used if necessary
601 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
602 mention the rsync dupload method
603 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
605 * other small corrections
606 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
607 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
608 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
609 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
611 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
613 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
614 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
616 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
618 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
620 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
621 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
622 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
623 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
625 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
626 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
627 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
628 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
629 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
631 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
633 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
634 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
635 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
636 team (closes: Bug#52906)
637 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
638 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
639 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
641 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
642 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
643 - added a section about the LDAP database
644 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
645 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
647 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
648 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
650 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
652 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
654 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
655 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
656 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
658 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
659 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
660 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
661 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
662 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
663 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
664 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
665 description from developers-reference.sgml
667 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
669 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
671 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
672 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
674 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
676 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
677 releases are available at archive.debian.org
678 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
679 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
680 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
681 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
682 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
683 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
684 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
685 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
687 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
688 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
689 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
690 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
692 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
693 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
694 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
695 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
696 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
697 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
698 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
699 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
700 suggestion from James Troup
701 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
702 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
703 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
704 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
707 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
709 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
711 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
712 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
714 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
716 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
718 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
719 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
720 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
721 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
722 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
723 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
724 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
726 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
728 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
730 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
731 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
732 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
733 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
734 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
735 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
737 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
738 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
740 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
742 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
744 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
746 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
748 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
749 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
750 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
751 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
752 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
754 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
755 with intro; demoted server sections under that
756 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
757 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
759 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
760 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
761 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
762 a normal developer may have access.
764 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
766 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
768 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
769 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
770 step all over each other
772 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
774 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
776 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
777 address for PGP key updates
779 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
781 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
783 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
784 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
785 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
786 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
787 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
789 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
791 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
793 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
794 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
795 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
796 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
797 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
798 <keyring-maint> instead)
799 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
800 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
802 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
804 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
805 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
806 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
808 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
810 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
812 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
813 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
814 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
815 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
816 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
817 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
819 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
820 tighten up the language a bit
821 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
822 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
823 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
824 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
826 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
827 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
828 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
829 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
830 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
831 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
833 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
834 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
835 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
836 about how to depart Debian gracefully
837 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
838 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
839 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
840 number of available packages
841 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
842 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
844 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
846 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
848 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
851 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
853 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
855 * not officially released
856 * more spelling corrections
857 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
859 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
861 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
863 * not officially released
864 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
865 * some PGP-centricity removed
866 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
867 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
868 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
869 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
870 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
871 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
873 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
875 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
877 * not officially released
878 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
879 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
880 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
881 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
882 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
883 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
884 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
885 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
886 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
887 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
888 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
889 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
890 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
891 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
893 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
894 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
896 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
898 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
899 take a couple of weeks
900 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
901 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
902 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
903 excited about it and can't wait
904 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
905 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
907 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
908 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
910 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
911 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
912 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
914 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
916 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
918 * move to 3-level version number:
919 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
920 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
921 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
922 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
923 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
926 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
927 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
928 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
930 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
932 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
933 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
934 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
935 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
936 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
937 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
939 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
941 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
942 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
943 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
944 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
945 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
946 - "The CVS server": new section added
947 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
949 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
950 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
951 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
952 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
953 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
955 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
956 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
957 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
958 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
959 a canonical location?)
960 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
961 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
962 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
963 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
965 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
967 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
968 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
969 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
970 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
972 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
974 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
976 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
977 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
978 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
979 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
980 them. (closes Bug#26948)
981 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
982 and should not be included in this Reference.
983 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
984 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
985 maintainer tools only!
986 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
987 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
988 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
989 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
990 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
991 * Little corrections here and there.
992 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
993 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
996 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
998 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
1000 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
1001 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
1002 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
1004 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
1005 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
1006 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
1007 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
1008 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
1009 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
1010 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
1011 do prior to uploading
1012 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
1013 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
1015 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
1016 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
1017 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
1018 duties with respect to bugs
1019 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
1020 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
1021 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
1023 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
1024 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
1025 * grammar and markup changes throughout
1026 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
1027 explicit what is used to build this package
1029 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
1031 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
1034 * version number and date are automatically populated now
1035 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
1036 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
1037 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
1038 * utilize the new URL tag
1039 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1042 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1044 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1046 * non-maintainer release
1047 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1048 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1049 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1050 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1051 text, it can't hurt you.)
1052 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1053 reflect this packages version number
1054 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1056 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1058 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1062 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1064 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1066 * New version numbering scheme:
1068 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1069 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1070 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1073 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1074 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1075 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1076 differ between the manuals.
1078 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1079 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1080 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1081 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1083 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1084 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1086 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1088 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1090 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1092 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1094 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1095 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1097 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1098 (as requested by James Troup)
1100 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1102 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1104 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1106 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1108 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1110 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1112 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1114 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1115 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1116 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1117 the non-maintainer release
1119 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1120 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1121 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1124 - Lots of typos fixed
1126 * Compressed SGML source code
1128 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1129 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1131 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1133 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1135 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1137 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1138 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1139 - Announcing package uploads
1140 * New section about Debian Mentors
1141 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1142 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1143 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1144 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1146 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1148 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1150 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1151 of our FTP server and the development process
1152 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1153 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1154 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1156 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1157 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1158 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1159 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1160 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1161 contacting the maintainer
1162 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1163 a new manual released soon)
1164 * Some minor changes
1165 * Include SGML source in package
1166 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1167 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1169 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1171 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1175 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200