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
41 -- Marc 'HE' Brockschmidt <he@debian.org> Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:26:33 +0200
43 developers-reference (3.3.9) unstable; urgency=low
47 - bump standards-version to 3.7.3 (no change)
48 - fix debian/copyright
49 - move debhelper to Build-Depends.
50 - add pdf for French version.
51 * Document changes to stable release management. Closes: #414291
52 * Debconf error templates no longer discouraged. Thanks,
53 Christian Perrier. Closes: #427832
54 * Keyring now uses RT. Closes: #428846
55 * Document -dbg-packages within BPs. Thanks, Joey Hess. Closes: #420540
56 * NMUs now also close bugs. Thanks, Lucas Nussbaum. Closes: #419507
57 * Fix documentation about gender neutral. Closes: #384178
58 * Fix typo. Closes: #405453
59 * More details on how to write documentation. Thanks, Josh Triplett.
61 * Add XS-Vcs-*. Thanks to Stefano Zacchiroli. Closes: #391023
62 * Small brushup to debconf description. Thanks, Thomas Huriaux.
64 * Document Team-Maintainence better. Thanks, Lucas Nussbaum.
66 * Add link to more removal ressources. Thanks, Adam D. Barratt,
67 Justin Pryzby. Closes: #412757, #356720
68 * Repacking source packages need to be documented in copyright.
69 Thanks, Russ Allbery. Closes: #413320
70 * Better describe version of debian native packages NMUs. Closes: #405818
71 * Source, HTML and text are now encoded in UTF-8. Thanks, Jörg Sommer.
73 * Source is now DocBook XML instead of debiandoc. Closes: #374220
76 * Add a link to enrico's excellent Debian Community Guidelines.
77 * Recommend the use of DSA's request tracker instead of mailing them.
78 * Remove reference to #debian-sf, #debian-bsd which don't exist anymore. Put
79 a reference to #debian-dpkg instead.
80 * Remove all stuff concerning non-US.
81 * Update information concerning Alioth.
82 * Update information concerning the Package Tracking System.
83 * Mention Alioth as the main resource for VCS repositories and deprecate
85 * Remove XS- prefix for Vcs-* fields since dpkg now supports them.
86 * Document the Homepage field. Thanks, Christian Perrier. Closes:
88 * Add Vcs-Svn and Vcs-Browser fields pointing to the new SVN
91 -- W. Martin Borgert <debacle@debian.org> Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:16:40 +0000
93 developers-reference (3.3.8) unstable; urgency=low
95 * mia-history is replaced by mia-query. Thanks, Christoph Berg.
97 * fix missing quite. Thanks, Frank Küster. Closes: #365994
98 * use gnugp instead of gpg. Thanks, Justin Pryzby, Jon Dowland.
100 * better destinction between maintainer and developer. Thanks for
101 the suggestion to Colin Tuckley. Closes: #380458
102 * irc.d.o points to oftc. Thanks, Christoph Biedl, Jon Dowland.
104 * Bugs are now always closed thanks to version tracking.
105 Closes: #339552, #353447, #376199
106 * Clarify what "a conflicts b" means in testing migration.
108 * Packages in testing disappear if they're removed from unstable.
109 Thanks, Frank Küster, Al Stone. Closes: #365993
110 * Document only the most recent changelog entry is used. Thanks
111 to Kevin Glynn to the suggestion. Closes: #374738
112 * Add more tools for reverse depends. Close: #376582
113 * delayed-queue on gluck is uploaded more often now. Closes: #397907
114 * stop using capitals, minor fixes, language fixes.
115 Thanks, Thijs Kinkhorst, Colin Tuckley, Russ Allbery.
116 Closes: #368046, #378929, #361744
117 * add CVE Ids to your changelog. Closes: #376961
118 * add reasoning why debconf questions shouldn't be longer than
119 20 lines. Thanks, Thijs Kinkhorst, Christian Perrier, Russ Allbery.
121 * section changing needs re-uploading orig.tar.gz.
122 Thanks, Adam D. Barratt. Closes: #387154
123 * binary files in diffs could be en/decoded with perl.
124 Thanks, Frank Küster. Closes: #397786
125 * Add pointer to new-reject-FAQ. Closes: #324967
126 * Hint to dd-list/whodepends. Closes: #353874
127 * Don't use too generic mail ids. Closes: #355725
128 * pts/summary is actually used. Thanks, Holger Levsen. Closes: #387108
129 * clarify that one should append the NMU-diff to a bug. Closes: #394033
130 * more detailed instructions on binary package removals.
134 - French translation updated to version 3.3.8
136 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sat, 11 Nov 2006 10:55:44 -0700
138 developers-reference (3.3.7) unstable; urgency=low
141 - adjust information about distributions with reality.
142 - add note on alioth accounts. Thanks, Phillip Kern. Closes: #306630
143 - correct manpage section of dpkg-scanpackages. Closes: #297069
144 - fix RFC 2440 URL. Closes: #308103
145 - add $arch@buildd information. Closes: #295483
146 - link to keyring.d.o for key replacement. Thanks, Martin Michlmayr.
148 - add information about Packages-arch-specific. Thanks, Frank Küster.
150 - add hint about LWN subscription. Thanks, Martin Michlmayr.
152 - more about debconf-style translation. Thanks, Christian Perrier.
154 - non-us discontinued.
155 - document nmu changes wrt version tracking. Thanks, Justin Pryzby.
157 - fix spelling issues. Thanks to various people.
158 Closes: #336146, #326857, #338660
159 - update menu policy helpers. Thanks, Florian Ernst. Closes: #340024
160 - send mia-mail to mia@qa. Thanks, Adam D. Barratt. Closes: #341568
161 - Joerg Jaspert is now freenode contact. Closes: #344303
162 - give a clearer description of the gpg v4-key issues. Thanks,
163 Martin Michlmayr and Peter Palfrader. Closes: #317411
164 - more verbose about Homepage. Closes: #339826
165 - add sarge and etch. Closes: #327682
166 - document severity of RoM-request bugs. Closes: #305947
167 - update FSF address. Closes: #334820
168 - fix P-a-s link. Closes: #341195
169 - reflect binNMU changes. Closes: #349493
170 - new security upload queue. Closes: #352749
171 - fix experimental's sources.list entry. Closes: #347229
172 - remove deprecated "Closes:..." to ACK NMU bug fixes. Closes: #353447
173 - when resigning, gpg-sign your mail. Closes: #348160
174 - make pristine source and repackaged origtargz anchors work.
176 - same number of RC bugs is ok. Closes: #351944
177 - dpkg-source doesn't keep permissions. Thanks, Enrico Zini.
179 - also mention aspell. Closes: #320981
182 - French translation updated to version 3.3.7, proofread by Bernard Adrian
184 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sun, 09 Apr 2006 11:31:52 -0600
186 developers-reference (3.3.6) unstable; urgency=low
189 - closes: and NMUs/experimental uploads. Closes: #284714
190 - madison is on merkel.
191 - more gender-neutral. Closes: #290583, #290584, #263114
192 - explain current incoming. Closes: #290019
193 - remove broken sponsoring URL. Closes: #291698
194 - add handling hints about orig.tar.gz. Thanks, Frank. Closes: #278524
195 - duplicate bug reports should be merged. Closes: #285381
196 - if you're on vacation, please check whether someone needs keysigning.
198 - freenode has developer cloacks. Closes: #285687
199 - cleaned up uploaders / maintainer field
200 - explain how dak detects NMUs. Closes: #292354
201 - add "mass" to lots of bugs. Closes: #292946
202 - sync NM rules with reality.
204 - French translation updated to version 3.3.6
206 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Sun, 23 Jan 2005 16:08:49 -0700
208 developers-reference (3.3.5) unstable; urgency=low
211 - uploads to more than one dist are not possible.
212 - updated upload queues. Closes: #235213
213 - updated URL of vanilla rules files. Closes: #237557, #252048
214 - please speak with stable RM before uploading to stable. Closes: #261464
215 - information on wnpp usage synced with wnpp. Closes: #255298
216 - spelling, grammer fixes.
217 Closes: #202444, #202499, #203202, #203378, #221902, #226208
218 - add hint about partitial key id. Closes: #243968
219 - spohr is restriced, and also ftp-master. Closes: #255814
220 - bpp: Hint about locale generation as non-root. Closes: #208021
221 - bpp: deborphan-compliant transition packages. Closes: #183654
222 - add myself to uploaders.
223 - add chapter about i10n. Closes: #208156
224 - add information about dchroot. Closes: #211845
225 - add information about NEWS.Debian. Closes: #212402
226 - add information about mia-database. Closes: #213961
227 - add link to debian-mentors FAQ.
228 - add verbose information about the package description. Closes: #214792
229 - add hint about -v<version> to experimental. Closes: #232930
230 - update information about yada. Closes: #217956
231 - urgency is sticky. Closes: #261914
232 - updated information about testing distribution. Closes: #266649.
233 - rewrote the NMU section, and
234 + made the possible severities of "target bugs" clearer. Closes: #233088.
235 + mention QA uploads. Closes: #202416.
236 + add -B for binNMUs, and local debsign usage. Closes: #208839.
237 + warning about breaking all-packages by binNMU. Closes: #213348.
238 - add information about gpg usage. Closes: #175815.
239 - make key replacement instructions more details. Closes: #275921
240 - typo and language fixes. Thanks, Era Eriksson. Closes: #277576
241 - add hints about debconf templates from Christian Perrier.
243 - Security uploads get urgency=high
244 - Be even more explicit about not uploading security updates
246 - French translation updated to version 3.3.5
248 -- Andreas Barth <aba@not.so.argh.org> Mon, 22 Nov 2004 19:07:26 +0100
250 developers-reference (3.3.4) unstable; urgency=low
253 - fixed language in the PTS section, prompted by a patch from
254 Romain FRANCOISE, thank you; closes: #197741
255 - updated the mailing lists section (again)
256 - documented Alioth, somewhat
258 - French translation updated to version 3.3.3 (more or less)
259 - proofread by Patrice Karatchentzeff
261 - Don't upload security updates directly to stable
262 - Always include an external reference in security changelog entries
263 - Be careful not to re-use a version number in security uploads
264 - More explicit instructions about what is appropriate for a security
268 - replace <!entity...> with <!ENTITY...> and other SGML hygenics
270 - Release this package as is to flush changes between June and now.
271 Yes, its been an age between releases here, for which I apologize.
272 Since CVS upstream for this package is back, I'm working on closing
273 bugs in this package now, I just wanted to get it out as is before I
276 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 29 Feb 2004 14:09:48 -0500
278 developers-reference (3.3.3) unstable; urgency=low
281 - corrections by Michel Grentzinger
283 - updated documentation concerning the PTS
284 - added a paragraph about the PTS web interface
285 - documented how to add custom news item in the PTS
287 - updates and clarifications to instructions for security bugs
288 - deprecate uploads to stable for security fixes, reference
289 section on security bugs; closes: #196516
290 - use dpkg-buildpackage -B to test binary-arch, not -b;
293 - Sec "Managing sponsored packages": remove unnecessary 'debsign' cmd;
295 - fix debconf-devel(7) man page section; closes: #189512
296 - Sec "Responding to bugs": mention what FTBFS means; closes: #186605
297 - Sec "Distribution directories" renamed "Distributions"
298 - Sec "The testing distribution" moved under Sec "Distribution
299 directories" and renamed "More information about the testing
301 - Secs "Uploads to {stable,testing-proposed-updates}" retitled to make
302 it clear these are special cases
303 - Sec "Uploading to ftp-master": xref to "Delayed incoming";
305 - check compliance with Policy version 3.5.10
307 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Jun 2003 04:08:29 -0400
309 developers-reference (3.3.2) unstable; urgency=low
312 - French translation updated to version 3.3.1
313 - proofread by Philippe Batailler and Patrice Karatchentzeff
315 - French translation requires debiandoc-sgml 1.1.76 or better
317 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Apr 2003 09:48:59 -0400
319 developers-reference (3.3.1) unstable; urgency=low
322 - package description said it contained French and Japanese, fixed,
324 - Sec "Experimental": sources.list entries
325 - Sec "Basic rules for [mailing list] use": cosmetic, link to this sec
326 - Sec "Handling bugs": retitle and expand section
328 - more improvements to package synopsis and description
329 - the synopsis formula changed to either
330 <package-name> is a <synopsis>
332 <package-name> is <synopsis>
334 <package-name> are <synopsis>
336 - the synopsis itself should not start with an article
337 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control": expand intro
338 - fix doc-check URL; closes: #187144
339 - Sec "Multiple binary packages": fix awkward wording about vim source
340 package; closes: #187143
342 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 4 Apr 2003 14:26:52 -0500
344 developers-reference (3.3) unstable; urgency=low
347 - French translation updated to version 3.2.2 (more or less)
348 - proofread by Philippe Batailler
350 - added "ddtp" keyword in the PTS documentation
352 - split out the doc-files per language, closes: #177448
353 - shuffled stuff around in the packages chapter
354 - added a section describing how to handle large amounts of
355 architecture-independent data bundled with programs
356 - added best practices on debian/changelog files, based on a patch
357 kindly provided by Daniel Kobras, closes: #166388
358 - described debdiff and dpkg-depcheck, and linked to them from the
359 right places in the document, closes: #172897
360 - describe the current practice in writing synopsis lines,
364 - convert to debhelper (compat mode 4); maintainer scripts no longer
366 - split -ja and -fr versions out into separate packages
367 - top-level makefile deletes targets on error; clean is cleaner
368 - replace the manual debian/control processing to show the document's
369 table of contents (TOC) with a new script 'debian/tocsubstvars';
370 note that the TOC displayed in the developers-reference-{fr,ja}
371 package descriptions are in English until UTF8 control files are
372 allowed; proper escaping of single quotes here requires newest
374 - editorial changes on material added in this version
375 - reorder "Best Packaging Practices" a bit
376 - rework "Best practices for debian/control" based on contributions
377 from Colin Walters, Branden Robinson, Sebastian Rittau and others;
378 closes: #139957, #108416
379 - primary author is developers-reference@packages.debian.org; remove
380 emails from other authors to prevent spam and confusion
382 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 24 Feb 2003 13:29:07 -0500
384 developers-reference (3.2.2) unstable; urgency=low
387 - slightly rewrote and updated links in the mirrors section
389 - Policy compliance checked and updated to 3.5.8, no changes needed
390 - TODO: remove some tasks which are done
391 - ship README-contrib and TODO in the doc dir
392 - Sec "Upstream home page": some revisions based on discussion on
394 - Sec "Documentation" added under Sec "Common packaging situations"
395 for best practices for documentation
396 - Add tools entries for autotools-dev, dpkg-repack, alien, debsums;
397 new Sec "Documentation and information", add entries there for
398 debview, debiandoc-sgml, debian-keyring; we believe this manual now
399 covers all of the established, general Debian maintainer tool
401 - spell-checking pass
403 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Dec 2002 13:45:23 -0500
405 developers-reference (3.2.1) unstable; urgency=low
408 - Sec "Best practices for debian/control" added, Sec "Writing useful
409 descriptions" moved under there
410 - Sec "Upstream home page" added in debian/control section
411 - Sec "Miscellaneous advice" empty, removed
412 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": tools now categorized into
413 subgroups; do cross-linking from this section into other parts of
414 the document where these tools are discussed
415 - Sec "Overview of maintainer tools": add entries for sbuild,
416 build-essential, linda; improved entries for pbuilder, devscripts
417 - Sec "Tools for porters" renamed and readapted to "Porting
418 infrastructure and automation"; move tool discussion down to the
419 appendix; improve Sec "buildd" a bit
420 - README-contrib added giving information for authors, contributors,
422 - eliminate the ByHand stuff, I'm pretty sure it's not needed now
423 with the DDP builder process, or if it is needed, it's a probably
424 that can be fixed by DDP folks
425 - stop shipping SGML source -- use 'apt-get source developers-reference'
426 after all, this is supposed to be a binary package, right?
427 - simply PS and PDF building rules
429 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 9 Dec 2002 03:04:19 -0500
431 developers-reference (3.2) unstable; urgency=low
434 - merged a bit misplaced lintian-reports section within the lintian
435 section and adjusted links
436 - added the missing description of dh-make and adjusted links
438 - ChangeLog attribution updates
439 - fix typos, closes: #171781
440 - expand the doc-base abstract and authors
441 - Ch "Packaging Practices" rewritten intro
442 - Sec "Packaging tools and common cases" renamed to "Best Practices
443 for debian/rules", and write an intro
444 - Sec "Helper scripts" in practices section rewritten, giving
445 arguments for and against debhelper, mostly for :)
446 - Sec "Package with multiple patches" renamed to "Patching source
447 versus patching at build time" and rewritten
448 - Sec "Multiple binary packages" rewritten
449 - Sec "Handling debconf translations" moved under an
450 "Internationalization" section, and some edits
451 - Sec "Internationalized Documentation" added under Sec
452 "Internationalization"
453 - Sec "Specific packaging practices" renamed to "Common packaging situations"
454 - Sec "Packages using autoconf/automake" rewritten
455 - Sec "Configuration management" moved forward in practices chapter
456 - Sec "Other specific packages" renamed to "Specific types of
457 packages", add info for SGML/XML and Lisp packages
458 - Sec "Writing useful descriptions" heavily edited
459 - Sec "Best practices for maintainer scripts" added, special credit
460 here to Charles Briscoe-Smith for work dating back to 1998; include
461 a POSIX shell snippet showing how to check if a command is the PATH,
463 - Apdx "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove debget, it's
464 rather useless and broken
465 - normalize up-casing on sections, which should only up-case proper
466 names and the first word
467 - new 'translation-status' script to check status of translations,
468 adapted from doc-check in boot-floppies, source pkg only --
469 oh my, French translation is 54 CVS revisions behind, and Japanese
471 - postinst: don't set /usr/doc symlink, aesthetics
472 - prerm: don't use 'command -v', it's not POSIX
473 - rules: produce md5sums file; break out a 'test' target
475 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 7 Dec 2002 02:28:06 -0500
477 developers-reference (3.1.2) unstable; urgency=low
480 - DDP publishing update
482 - doc-base file includes French and Japanese files
483 - debsign invocation was slightly wrong, closes: #170523
484 - Sec "Handling debconf translations", updates from Martin Quinson
485 for po-debconf with minimal editorial changes, closes: #169007
487 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 27 Nov 2002 21:16:30 -0500
489 developers-reference (3.1.1) unstable; urgency=low
492 - updated IRC stuff, thanks to Ben Armstrong, closes: #161403
493 - fixed/updated/extended stuff about bugs, hoping to address the
494 issue of people abusing the changelog bug closing feature
496 - added myself as co-author
497 - fix a typo in Sec "Collaborative maintenance", closes: #161488
499 - updated security information, merging in Joey's stuff from the
500 Security Team FAQ and various updates and clarifications
502 - fix some bad URLs, closes: #168357
503 - fix a grammar typo, closes: #166098
505 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 12 Nov 2002 23:15:03 -0500
507 developers-reference (3.1) unstable; urgency=low
510 - Corrected several errors with —
511 - Applied patch from Peter Palfrader, correcting
512 the URL for the Debian Voting Information page. closes: #150427
513 - Applied patch from Matej Vela, dpkg-buildpackage does no more
514 require -sa for version -0.1. closes: #150861
515 - Applied the reformulations proposed by David Kimdon. closes: #150572
516 - Applied the patch of Matt Zimmerman. Thanks Matt! closes: #145287
517 - Added the explanation about how to replace an .orig.tar.gz.
519 - Mostly deleted the paragraph about security upload in the
520 section explaining source NMU. Just added a link to point to
521 "Handling security-related bugs". closes: #159935
522 - Added a link to the Technical Committee web page (in the "Bug
523 housekeeping" section). closes: #151365
524 - Explain uploads to testing-proposed-updates, mentions briefly
525 stable-security and testing-security. closes: #149666
526 Removed the comment about uploads to frozen.
527 - Documented the "Developer's packages overview" web portal.
529 - Added a reference to debian-l10n-english in "Writing useful
530 descriptions". closes: #158609
531 - Added a Best Packaging Practice section for "Packages using
532 autoconf/automake". closes: #158045
533 - Documented associated features to db.debian.org like SSH key
534 replication and *.debian.net DNS entry. closes: #155389
535 - Added a section about "Bug Squashing Parties".
537 - removed obsolete, needless dupload variables
538 - applied linguistic fixes from David Kimdon, closes: #150572
539 - random proofreading, mostly changing he -> they
540 - added people.d.o and non-us.d.o to the Debian servers section, and
541 mostly rewrote it to exclude real machine names and be better organized
542 - updated the mailing lists section
544 - debian/changelog: remove obsolete Emacs variables
545 - editorial review of the changes above, minor tagging changes,
548 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 10 Sep 2002 21:57:41 -0400
550 developers-reference (3.0) unstable; urgency=low
553 - welcome Manoj Srivastava as a co-maintainer
554 - welcome Raphael Hertzog as a co-maintainer
556 - new Chapter "Resource for Debian Developers", incorporating
558 Ch "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines"
559 Ch "The Debian Archive"
561 - new Chapter "Managing Packages", incorporating former chapters
563 Ch "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
564 Ch "Porting and Being Ported"
565 Ch "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning Packages"
566 Ch "Handling Bugs" (retitled "Handling package bugs")
567 Sec "Bug housekeeping" (new section, some parts stubbed out)
569 - new Chapter "Beyond Packaging" recommends ways to contribute
570 to Debian beyond issues of package maintenance; incoporates
571 Ch "Interaction with Prospective Developers", retitled to
572 Sec "Interacting with Prospective Debian Developers"
573 Sec "Submitting Bugs", renamed to "Reporting Bugs"
574 Sec "QA" moved here from old Sec "Quality Assurance effort"
575 Sec "Dealing with unreachable maintainers"
577 - Sec "The Developers Database" added under Resources
578 - new Sec "Collaborative Maintenance" concerning multiple maintainers
581 - Sec "Getting started": add link to New Maintainers' Guide
582 - Sec "Debian Mentors" renamed to "Debian Mentors and Sponsors",
583 we add some info on sponsoring; also in Sec "Sponsoring packages"
584 - Section's first word capitalized, rest are normal case
585 - purge a reference to the Packaging Manual; closes: #145039
586 - misc. cross-referencing with new or moved sections
587 - change some literal quotes to ‘, ”, etc.
588 - tagging improvements: replace <tt> with <file> for files and
589 directories; since <tt><var> and <example><var> doesn't look right,
590 work-around with <...>
591 - entity'ize master.debian.org, us-upload-dir, non-us-upload-dir
592 - update copyright date
593 - some simplifications on the TeX suffix rule
594 - spell check and grammar corrections
598 - changed -e by -m in the dpkg-buildpackage command line example;
600 - clarify wording between "porter upload", "binary-only NMU", "simple
601 recompile"; closes: #102626
602 - extended "removing a package"; closes: #135560
603 - Ch "Best Packaging Practices": new chapter, including new
604 Sec "Writing useful descriptions" as a first entry in that
605 chapter; closes: #53109, #129848
606 - indicate that the list of subsections is defined in the policy;
608 - removed some cruft in `Announcing package uploads'
609 - document the testing scripts; closes: #129445
610 - explain how to reassign/close bugs of removed packages;
612 - updates the note about software subject to US patents;
614 - new Section "Contacting other maintainers" under "Beyond packaging"
615 Document the package@packages.debian.org alias; closes: #114553
616 - new Section "Package's information" under Resources
617 Document http://packages.debian.org/<package>,
618 http://bugs.debian.org/<package> and the madison utility
619 - Sec "Reporting bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/from:email@isp.com
620 - Sec "Handling bugs": added http://bugs.debian.org/login@debian.org
621 - Sec "The Incoming system" in "Resources", describe how it works and
622 also speak of the DELAYED directory; closes: #135562, #136774
624 - Sec "Developer Database": added a sentence about finger
626 - update the total number of packages and the example directory tree
628 - updated the list of available architectures.
629 - commented out the "Subsections" section since it will RSN have nothing
630 to with the Debian archive. It's just a generic information field
631 of the package and nothing more.
632 - added more incentive to use experimental since it doesn't cause
633 any pain to the ftpmasters.
634 - Sec "When to do a source NMU": updated the NMU "protocol" and suggest
635 the use of the delayed queue.
636 - new Section "Acknowledging the NMUs" to explain the need to integrate
637 the changes introduced by NMUs. Insists on the fact that one shouldn't
639 - stubbed in new Section "Collaborative maintenance"
640 - stubbed in new Section "The Package Tracking System"
641 - Sec "The Package Tracking System": filled with content from
642 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, heavily updated by myself
643 - new Section "Managing sponsored packages" contributed by
644 Francesco Paolo Lovergine, slightly updated by myself
645 - new Sec "Bug housekeeping"; closes: #39519
647 - new Sec "Documentation"
648 - added Sec "IRC channels" in the Resources chapter
649 - added Sec "pbuilder" in the appendix. Mention it in the section
650 "Being kind to porter" too
651 - extended Sec "devscripts" with info about "bts" and "uscan"
652 - completed Sec "Helper scripts"
653 - completed Sec "Package with multiple patches",
654 "Multiple binary packages", "Libraries", "Other specific packages",
655 "The wise use of debconf" -- all those are quite simplistic, they
657 - integrated Sec "Handling debconf translations" contributed by
658 Denis Barbier -- thanks, Denis!
661 - update French translation
663 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 14 Jun 2002 01:18:19 -0400
665 developers-reference (2.11) unstable; urgency=low
668 - some grammar corrections
669 - update French translation
671 - changes in upload situation, not possible to remove from Incoming
672 anymore; closes: #135559
673 - also talk about dput a tiny bit
675 - Ch "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools":
677 - Charles Briscoe-Smith deprecates yada (I think new maintainers of
678 that would be welcome)
679 - debconf-doc mentioned for debconf
680 - debhelper: don't talk about debmake; mention how to get info on the dh-* pkgs
681 - dput: new section, closes: #129378
682 - debootstrap: new section, closes: #129377
683 - dpkg-dev-el: new section
684 - other minor wording changes
685 - Sec "Mailing Lists": where to find private archives, closes: #96780
686 - Ch "Package uploads":
687 - new Sec "Adding an entry to debian/changelog"
688 - rename Sec "Announcing new packages" to "New packages"
689 - crypto is in main, non-US is for patent restrictions, so:
690 - excise some text from "Registering as a Debian developer"
691 - changes in Sec "Uploading to ftp-master"
692 - changes in Sec "Uploading to non-US"
693 * old bugs closed out, closes: #110573
695 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 7 Apr 2002 23:34:08 -0700
697 developers-reference (2.10.0) unstable; urgency=low
699 * from Martin Michlmayr
700 - update the "Applying to Become a New Maintainer" section, with
701 review by Raphael Hertzog, closes: #133965
702 - bugs closed in NMUs should uses 'closes' changelog entries,
704 - developers are not required to subscribe to debian-private
706 - some suggestions on places to use the proper term, Debian GNU/Linux,
708 - fix some typos, closes: #133956
710 - frozen doesn't exist anymore, just testing; note, however, that
711 there is a way to upload to 'woody-proposed-updates' -- if I can
712 find some description of that, I'll document it; closes: #133948
715 - isolate a few more language-independent bits
717 - change /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc, and typo in debian/copyright,
720 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 24 Feb 2002 14:46:46 -0500
722 developers-reference (2.9.0) unstable; urgency=low
725 - created a new subsection about uploading to stable, and elaborated
727 - removed a stray sentence about stable from the paragraph about
728 security uploads (which apply to all distributions equally)
729 - replaced the nonexistent term "Security Manager" with "security officer"
730 - uploading to stable and unstable is deprecated; updated the section
731 about the experimental distribution; other fixes in the section
732 talking about uploading to distributions
733 - better organize some subsections in the section about package uploads
734 - replaced some bogus <ftppath>s with <tt>s
735 - noted how there is an upload queue on pandora, too
737 - French translation updated
739 - normalize '--' as — for prettier output
740 - integrate changes from James Troup, part of #102626
741 - typo fix thanks to Mark Hodge
743 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Oct 2001 01:03:01 -0400
745 developers-reference (2.8.8) unstable; urgency=low
748 - a few more strong words about sponsoring
749 - started a new chapter about the relationship between old and new
752 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Jul 2001 17:53:47 -0400
754 developers-reference (2.8.7) unstable; urgency=low
757 * fix a typo in a link
758 * dpkg-buildpackage -m<addr> flag was changed for -e<addr> when NMU'ing;
759 update documentation accordingly
761 * Matt Zimmerman fixes up some wording in the section talking about
762 forwarding bugs upstream
764 * provide proper l10n for SGML date entities; now we have &date-<LANG>
765 entities which should be used
766 * debian/rules: fixes for new debiandoc-sgml
767 * debian/control: depend on debiandoc-sgml 1.1.48 or better
769 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 21 Jun 2001 14:43:42 -0400
771 developers-reference (2.8.6) unstable; urgency=low
773 * fix a typo, thanks to Antoine Hulin
774 * French version: completely up-to-date now
775 * Makefile: add a 'validate' target
776 * prepare and ship "upstream" ChangeLog; move the debian changelog to
778 * all versions: change the email address to use when orphaning
781 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 13 Apr 2001 03:32:08 -0400
783 developers-reference (2.8.5) unstable; urgency=low
785 * expunge references to the Debian Packaging Manual, which is now in the
787 * Japanese version: also comment out some references packaging manual;
788 this translation needs updating
789 * deny request to shut down non-maintainer bug maintenance bug closure
790 practices (closes: Bug#88623)
791 * add some advice about U.S. citizens uploading to non-US
793 * debian/control: Build-Depends should have been Build-Depends-Indep
794 * French version: First complete translation of the Debian developer's
795 reference guide. Much work done by Antoine Hulin. Reviewed by Nicolas
797 * Portuguese version: work is started by Carlos Laviola, nothing
798 included yet, however
800 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 8 Apr 2001 01:25:51 -0400
802 developers-reference (2.8.4) unstable; urgency=low
804 * debian/control: remove reference to obsolete packaging-manual package
806 * debian/control: fill in the description a bit more
807 * doc-base: index.html corrected to be index.en.html
809 * Makefile: clean is cleaner
811 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 25 Feb 2001 12:47:06 -0500
813 developers-reference (2.8.3) unstable; urgency=low
815 * build and provide French and Japanese versions
816 * devolve build logic from debian/rules to top-level Makefile
817 * developers-reference.jp.sgml: minor changes so it will build (is out
819 * debian/rules: stop making useless /usr/share/developers-reference dir
821 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 22 Jan 2001 02:02:02 -0500
823 developers-reference (2.8.2) unstable; urgency=low
826 - fix typographic errors reported by David Martinez (closes: Bug#80740)
827 - common.ent: upped the numbers a little bit, updated lintian reports URL
828 - updated regarding va->klecker move, and www->people move, changed
829 most mentions of dinstall to a generic term "archive maintenance
830 software", removed full path to it because it is in PATH now,
831 mentioned "dak" and "katie" (somewhat vaguely), changed week to
832 month regarding FTP archive waiting time since that\'s more often
833 the case, and changed weeks to hours regarding Maintainers file
834 updates since that\'s also more often the case now, updated some
835 URLs to entities, s/debian-doc/doc-debian/
836 - replaced evil latin1-only quotation marks, replaced mentions of
837 important severity (in RCB context) with serious severity, some
839 - common.ent (1.10): fixed email-debian-user alias; updated
840 sample-dist-dirtree (with more to come)
841 - described testing; described package pools (this particular part
842 required quite a bit of changes, and it might be a bit rough, but
843 it's a start); described the frozen test cycles et al; some other
845 - another update WRT sid/unstable/testing, from Colin Watson
847 * debian/control: add Recommends for debian-policy, packaging-manual
848 * update copyright notice for 2001
849 * fix for WNPP bug filing severities from David Schleef
850 * clarify the status of the Developers's reference as "normative"
851 * add a reference to debconf (closes: Bug#82413)
853 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 21 Jan 2001 18:10:21 -0500
855 developers-reference (2.8.1) unstable; urgency=low
857 * update WNPP instructions, based on patch from Marcelo E. Magallon
859 * spelling corrections, awkward grammar suggestions from Andreas Krueger
861 * debian/rules: remove some obsolete source-depends stuff
863 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 4 Nov 2000 13:22:21 -0500
865 developers-reference (2.8.0) unstable; urgency=low
867 * Almost all changes for this release are from Josip Rodin
868 <joy@debian.org>. Thanks, Josip!
870 * debian/control, postinst, prerm, rules: Policy 3.2.1 (closes:
871 Bug#68929, Bug#70384)
872 * fixed bug closing example (closes: Bug#71198)
873 * update the perl regexp from current /usr/lib/dpkg/parsechangelog/debian
874 * updated keyring/keyserver information (closes: Bug#67783)
875 * updated new-maintainer stuff (closes: Bug#67841)
876 * updated for master -> ftp-master move (closes: Bug#68369)
877 * noted www.d.o is the right host for web pages, but all other machines
878 could be used if necessary
879 * reorder mentions of scp to come before FTP, as it is more secure;
880 mention the rsync dupload method
881 * reorder mentions of pandora <-> non-us, canonical name non-us is
883 * other small corrections
884 * fixed orphaning/adopting instructions with regard to the new WNPP
885 * common.ent: fix urls for cvs.d.o, wnpp, Debian machines page,
886 lists-archives, www.d.o BTS
887 * common.ent: changed link for machines from devel/maintainer_contacts
889 * Makefile: remove unnecessary subshell
891 * Adam's change: update debian/copyright for new Policy, and put my name
892 in there a bit with updated years; update doc-base file for FHS
894 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 15 Oct 2000 03:25:21 -0400
896 developers-reference (2.7.2) frozen unstable; urgency=medium
898 * I believe this should go into frozen because (a) it's only
899 documentation, so it can't introduce RC bugs, and (b) it fixes an
900 error which prevented it from building properly; however, whatever
901 ftpmaster feels is best is fine
903 * include common.ent as well as version.ent
904 (closes: Bug#52582, Bug#48926)
905 * debian/rules: fix build error caused by newer debiandoc-sgml; remove
906 constitution.en.html, since that is now located in the doc-debian
907 package (closes: Bug#54778, Bug#42014); don't compress .pdf file
909 * All changes below from Raphael Hertzog <hertzog@debian.org>
911 * Sec. "Uploading to master" and "Uploading to pandora":
912 explained dinstall -n (closes: Bug#45079)
913 * Sec. "Picking a distribution": added reference to the debian-release
914 team (closes: Bug#52906)
915 * Sec. "Announcing package uploads": rewrote it to take care of the fact
916 that dinstall is doing it automatically (closes: Bug#43877)
917 * Sec. "Mailing lists": added a paragraph about debian-email
919 * Changed the "Maintaining Your Debian Information" into "Debian
920 Developer's Duties" (closes: Bug#28908)
921 - added a section about the LDAP database
922 - added a section about the "on vacation" message
923 - added a section about the coordination with upstream developers
925 - added a section about managing Release Critical bugs
926 - added a section about Quality Assurance effort
928 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 16 Apr 2000 23:24:33 -0400
930 developers-reference (2.7.1) unstable; urgency=low
932 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": we are transitioning away
933 from non-free PGP -- remove allusions to non-free software such as
934 PGPv2 or v5 insofar as possible; recommend use of DSS keys rather than
936 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": remove PGP-centric stuff
937 * Sec. "When bugs are closed by new uploads": describe how to close bugs
938 via a magic changelog entry (closes: Bug#43690)
939 * Sec. "Generating the changes file": refer to Sec. "When bugs are
940 closed by new uploads" for closing bugs via a changelog entry
941 * developers-reference.sgml: re-enable RCS variables in CVS sources
942 * debian/control,rules: dynamically generate the TOC in the package
943 description from developers-reference.sgml
945 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 12 Sep 1999 18:15:59 -0400
947 developers-reference (2.7.0) unstable; urgency=low
949 * developers-reference.sgml: separated out language-independant elements
950 into common.ent (not content changes); misc minor grammar changes
952 * doc-base: change section for *constitution* to Debian (not 'debian')
954 * Sec. "Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen": mention how old stable
955 releases are available at archive.debian.org
956 * Sec. "Uploading to pandora (non-us)" added, remove stale
957 information about the old anonymous ftp area (closes Bug#39541);
958 Sec. "Other Upload Queues" added about that upload queues, added
959 samosa and master.debian.org.jp (closes Bug#37804)
960 * Sec. "Yada": mention that yada might not be as robust as other package
961 producing systems, at request of the author; Sec. "equivs" added
962 * Sec. "Moving packages": at the request of Guy Maor, clarify that this
963 procedure is for moving packages in sections (i.e., free, contrib)
965 * Sec. "Registering as a Debian developer": talk about RSA keys rather
966 than PGP keys, since I think GPG can create/handle them now; mention
967 that the official pkg maintainer address much match an ID on your key;
968 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key": beef up the warnings a bit; point
970 * Sec. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": clean up and
971 clarify section; mention that all developers are expected to be
972 subscribed to debian-private and debian-devel-announce
973 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": remove list of machines; point to
974 http://www.debian.org/devel/machines instead
975 * Sec. "Release code names": potato is 2.2
976 * Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads": talk about recompile only
977 uploads and version numbers for this (i.e., foo_2.4-1.0.1), from a
978 suggestion from James Troup
979 * Sec. "buildd": mention andrea, and buildd.debian.org
980 * Sec. "Removing packages": correct apt-cache usage
981 * debain/rules: update standards to 3.0.1 -- since I'm not moving
982 /usr/doc to /usr/share/doc yet, no changes were required except in the
985 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Mon, 16 Aug 1999 23:29:45 -0400
987 developers-reference (2.6.8) unstable; urgency=low
989 * when applying as a new user, the login name can be *eight* characters,
990 not seven (thanks to Rafael Caetano dos Santos)
992 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 21:50:04 -0400
994 developers-reference (2.6.7) unstable; urgency=low
996 * SGML'ish: normalize SGML elements, refill paragraphs (closes Bug#37987)
997 * doc-base: change section to Debian -- hmm, this looks like a doc-base
998 bug, really, but hey, who am I to refile bugs to another one of my own
999 packages? (closes Bug#37392)
1000 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": new section for yada (um,
1001 someone who uses this should check my description), correct build ->
1002 debuild in the devscripts section (closes Bug#38053)
1004 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 21 May 1999 01:41:45 -0400
1006 developers-reference (2.6.6) unstable; urgency=low
1008 * Sec. "The master server": note that problems on Debian ftp can be sent
1009 to ftpmaster@debian.org also
1010 * Secs. "Uploads via chiark" and "Uploads via erlangen": remove
1011 'cron-driven' (thanks Roman Hodek)
1012 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": typos corrected, note that binary-arch
1013 and binary-indep targets should work independantly (thanks Roman
1015 * Sec. "buildd": remove erroneous reference to debbuild, reorganize the
1016 section and correct typos (thank again Roman -- boy, this is the all
1018 * debian/rules: re-enable letter-sized PDFs
1020 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 9 May 1999 01:17:29 -0400
1022 developers-reference (2.6.5) unstable; urgency=low
1024 * Sec. "Architectures": correction on supported architecture in Linux
1026 * Sec. "Experimental": other reasons to use or not use the experiment
1027 archive "section", from comments by Guy Maor
1028 * Sec. "Being Kind to Porters": replace x86 with i386 (closes Bug#36485)
1029 * debian/rules: date printing protected from local l10n (closes Bug#36891)
1030 * Ch. "Mailing Lists, Servers, and Other Machines": renamed chapter; add
1032 * Sec. "Debian Servers": new, for talking about the standard servers,
1033 with intro; demoted server sections under that
1034 * Sec. "The FTP servers": was empty, removed
1035 * Sec. "The master server": fill in more info and cross-refs on how to
1037 * Sec. "The CVS server": add some more detail which should be included
1038 when requesting cvs areas; mention the cvsweb URL
1039 * Sec. "Other Debian Machines": new section, list the machines for which
1040 a normal developer may have access.
1042 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 4 May 1999 03:32:21 -0400
1044 developers-reference (2.6.4) unstable; urgency=low
1046 * debian/rules: hack 'byhand' file entries to include debian version
1047 number in it, so subsequent uploads of the package into Incoming don't
1048 step all over each other
1050 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 9 Apr 1999 20:04:04 -0400
1052 developers-reference (2.6.3) unstable; urgency=low
1054 * correction from James Troup -- <keyring-maint> is indeed the correct
1055 address for PGP key updates
1057 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 13:28:58 -0400
1059 developers-reference (2.6.2) unstable; urgency=low
1061 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is not replacing anything after all
1062 * developers-reference.sgml: use public declaration
1063 * BTW, if any maintainers of translated versions of this document would
1064 like to talk to me about folding your version into the
1065 developers-reference CVS area, please get in touch with me
1067 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sun, 4 Apr 1999 04:42:29 -0400
1069 developers-reference (2.6.1) unstable; urgency=low
1071 * include Debian constitution (closes Bug#30694)
1072 * Sec. "fakeroot": libtricks is replacing fakeroot, not libtool
1073 * Sec. "Maintaining Your Public Key" -- give email addresses as
1074 {pgp,gpg}-update@debian.org, at James Troup's request (note to Jameas,
1075 if you see this: /usr/doc/debian-keyring/README.gz talks about
1076 <keyring-maint> instead)
1077 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools" -- add Sec. "debget"
1078 * developers-reference.sgml: minor typo correction from Tril
1080 * doc-base stuff: add abstract to developers-reference, new file for
1082 * debian/rules: minor cleanup and consistency; build PDF, not PS file;
1083 ship PDF file;.text file now has .txt extension
1084 * debian/control: set priority to optional, matching archive
1086 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Sat, 3 Apr 1999 17:17:06 -0500
1088 developers-reference (2.6.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1090 * would be nice to sneak this into slink; it's just documentation!
1091 * Ch. "Porting and Being Ported": porter information broken out into it's
1092 own chapter, Sec. "Guidelines for Porter Uploads" and "When to do a
1093 source NMU if you are a porter" moved to this chapter; porter tool
1094 descriptions such as 'quinn-diff' moved to this section. Sec. "Being
1095 Kind to Porters" added, with tips for how to avoid making problems for
1097 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)": update for the new chapter, and
1098 tighten up the language a bit
1099 * Sec. "Monitoring bugs": add a little cron job to get an 'index maint'
1100 of outstanding bugs (closes Bug#31259), loosen language a tiny bit
1101 w.r.t. non-maintainers or submitters closing bugs (closes Bug#30394)
1102 * Sec. "Scope of This Document": point out that this file is not
1104 * Ch. "Handling Bugs": renamed from "Handling Bug Reports", incorporate
1105 some suggestions from James Troup, namely, don't mail from your root
1106 account, don't close bugs via control@bugs.debian.org; break out new
1107 sections, "Submitting Bugs" and "Responding to Bugs"
1108 * Ch. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": remove attribution for
1109 package maintainers, since I can't keep up; add entries for fakeroot
1111 * Ch. "Maintaining Your Debian Information": new chapter, quite small
1112 right now; it mentions keyring-maint@debian.org for key modification,
1113 warns against putting private keys on multi-user machines, and talks
1114 about how to depart Debian gracefully
1115 * typo correction from Christian Hudon (closes Bug#32052)
1116 * menu file removed, obsoleted by doc-base file
1117 * parameterize some often-changing values with SGML entities, update
1118 number of available packages
1119 * use new way of notating multiple copyrights
1120 * change <tt> elements to <file> where appropriate
1122 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Thu, 11 Feb 1999 02:53:55 -0500
1124 developers-reference (2.5.0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1126 * add version.ent to docdir, needed to reconstruct from SGML
1129 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Tue, 29 Dec 1998 02:42:50 -0500
1131 developers-reference (2.5.0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1133 * not officially released
1134 * more spelling corrections
1135 * s/ppc/powerpc/ (thanks, James Troup)
1137 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 18 Dec 1998 00:07:40 -0500
1139 developers-reference (2.5.0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1141 * not officially released
1142 * Sec. "Removing a package from Incoming": tiny section added
1143 * some PGP-centricity removed
1144 * Sec. "Adopting a package": point out that hijacking packages is not ok
1145 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": change 'NMU' to
1146 'source NMU', 'port' to 'binary NMU', shorten the window for porters a
1147 tad; fix spelling; stress that non-maintainer patches must be
1148 non-disruptive and that aesthetic issues are not suitable for fixing
1149 by non-maintainers; other fixes as suggested by interested parties
1151 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Wed, 25 Nov 1998 00:01:27 -0500
1153 developers-reference (2.5.0.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1155 * not officially released
1156 * maintainer name change (but it's still me)
1157 * Ch. "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters": new chapter
1158 discussing NMUs and porters; Section "Interim Releases" integrated out
1159 of existance. New TOC for this section is:
1160 * 6 Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs) and Porters
1161 + 6.1 Who can do a port or an NMU
1162 + 6.2 When to do a port or an NMU
1163 o 6.2.1 When to do an NMU if you are a porter
1164 + 6.3 How to do an NMU
1165 o 6.3.1 NMU version numbering
1166 o 6.3.2 NMUs must create a changelog entry
1167 o 6.3.3 NMUs must send patches, if any, to the BTS
1168 o 6.3.4 Building the NMU
1169 + 6.4 Guidelines for Porters
1171 * Sec. "Maintainer changes": renamed to "Adopting a package" and moved
1172 to Chapter "Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
1174 * Sec. "Reporting lots of bugs at once": more forcefully deprecate this
1176 * Sec. "Adopting a package": mention that the BTS maintainer update can
1177 take a couple of weeks
1178 * Sec. "Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools": give credit where credit
1179 is due and attribute current maintainers; add `apt'; add `quinn-diff';
1180 add mention of as yet unreleased 'buildd' package, since I'm so
1181 excited about it and can't wait
1182 * Sec. "Removing packages": talk about how apt-cache can be used to look
1183 at reverse depends, a good step to take prior to removing a package
1185 * show *full* TOC, including sect2
1186 * of course the obligatory typo, grammar, and spelling corrections
1188 * Makefile: small changes to accomodate DDP autobuild
1189 * debian/dirs: obsolete, removed
1190 * debian/rules: use changelog date for SGML timestamping, not current date
1192 -- Adam Di Carlo <aph@debian.org> Fri, 20 Nov 1998 12:27:53 -0500
1194 developers-reference (2.5.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1196 * move to 3-level version number:
1197 top-level version number probably won't change for a while, it is the
1198 "major", the second-level number means significant content changes,
1199 and the third-level change means corrections and minor improvements.
1200 Since this version has significant content changes, we are now 2.5.0.
1201 Since I'm going to put porter instructions in the next major rev, that
1204 * use new <package> tag where appropriate (Ardo, you rock)
1205 * replace 'm86k' with 'm68k'
1206 * rename 'Whirlwind Tour of ...' section to 'Overview of ...' (suggested
1208 * typos and "red-pen" corrections, fix cosmetic problems in PostScript
1210 * remove the one case I use an URL fragment identifier, since
1211 debiandoc-sgml doesn't like it (bug filed against debiandoc-sgml)
1212 * debian/rules: cosmetic cleanups, loosen check for root
1213 * debian/rules: build PostScript version during build, since it's nice
1214 to have all my debiandoc2* scripts together
1215 * debian/control: policy compliant to 2.5.0
1217 * advise against uploading when a package has lintian problems of
1219 * "Mailing Lists and Servers":
1220 - "The master server": mention how master is the home of the BTS;
1221 mention how users need to take care with their accounts on master
1222 - "The WWW servers": fill in www.debian.org, first pass, and discuss
1223 how to put up your own web pages on va or master
1224 - "The CVS server": new section added
1225 - "Mirrors of Debian servers": new section added; point to info about
1227 * "Applying to Become a Maintainer": do not advise resending initial
1228 application; instead, simply mail a followup asking new maintainers
1229 whether they go the initial application (closes Bug #28739); mention
1230 that calls usually come in the evening; mention that if you use PGP
1231 v5, you need to generate an RSA key (right?); clarify our intentions
1232 with respect to GPG.
1233 * "Release code names": Debian 2.2 is 'potato'
1234 * "Distribution directories": give concrete examples, hopefully making
1235 it clearer where to look in Debian archives for specific stuff;
1236 mention that old distributions are moved to archive servers (is there
1237 a canonical location?)
1238 * "The override file": new section, added under "Notification that a new
1239 package has been installed"; fill it out quite a bit
1240 * "Uploading to *": reiterate thrice not to upload export
1241 controlled-software to master, or the European queues on erlangen and
1243 * "Picking a distribution": section broken out from "Generating the
1245 * "Uploading to frozen": new section, almost straight from Brian White
1246 (hope you don't mind!) -- isn't that topical?
1247 * "Interim releases": if you NMU a new upstream version (0.1), run
1248 'dpkg-buildpackage -sa'
1250 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 12 Nov 1998 00:03:43 -0500
1252 developers-reference (2.4.1.5) unstable; urgency=low
1254 * Fix instructions for new maintainers, incorporating the actual text
1255 sent to prospective new maintainers. Improve this text a bit for
1256 readability, coverage, and organization. Significant changes were
1257 patched back to the new-maintainers group, if they care to use
1258 them. (closes Bug#26948)
1259 * Add an introductory "Scope" chapter which helps delineate what should
1260 and should not be included in this Reference.
1261 * Add a new chapter, "Whirlwind Tour of Debian Maintainer Tools". Let
1262 me know what useful tools I forgot -- remember, Debian-specific
1263 maintainer tools only!
1264 * Add discussion of the "experimental" distribution, culled from an email
1265 from Guy Maor on debian-devel.
1266 * Incorporated suggestions from Branden Robinson (closes Bug#27211).
1267 * Point to doc-debian's mailing list instructions where relevant.
1268 * Made references to online documentation into URLs where possible.
1269 * Little corrections here and there.
1270 * add a Makefile for use in the DDP manual hierarchy
1271 * debian/rules: comment out my 'source-depends' hack; it's just slowing
1274 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 1 Oct 1998 03:42:43 -0400
1276 developers-reference (2.4.1.4) unstable; urgency=low
1278 * fill in Section "The master server" a bit; other servers to follow
1279 * in Section "Distribution directories", mention that distributions
1280 are always in 'dists' subdir of the Debian archive; talk about
1282 * in Section "Release code names", talk about 'sid' a bit
1283 * in Section "Interim releases", talk about how non-maintainers should
1284 use the BTS, and bug severity "fixed" (closes Bug#17524)
1285 * in Section "Generating the changes file", talk about how to set the
1286 distribution in the debian/changelog file (i.e., "frozen unstable")
1287 * add a new Section "Checking the package prior to upload" to Section
1288 "Uploading a package", mentioning lintian and other tests one should
1289 do prior to uploading
1290 * add new Section "Notification that a new package has been installed"
1291 in Section "Uploading a package", talking about dinstall and the
1293 * add new Sections "Moving packages", "Removing packages", "Replacing or
1294 renaming packages", and "Orphaning a package" (closes Bug#26650)
1295 * add new Section "Bugs in your packages", talking about maintainer
1296 duties with respect to bugs
1297 * add new Section "Lintian reports" under "Handling bugs reports",
1298 talking about how maintainers should check their packages with lintian
1299 every now and then, alternatively pointing them to the lintian web
1301 * clarify, a bit, the use of "section" and "subsection", bringing it
1302 into line with the usage in the Policy Manual and Packaging Manual
1303 * grammar and markup changes throughout
1304 * debian/rules: added a crude source-depends rule, which renders more
1305 explicit what is used to build this package
1307 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:51:46 -0400
1309 developers-reference (2.4.1.3) unstable; urgency=low
1312 * version number and date are automatically populated now
1313 * changed doc-base section to "debian"
1314 * debian/rules: better abstraction and organization
1315 * reformat SGML like I happen to like it
1316 * utilize the new URL tag
1317 * build PostScript on letter size, I hear thats better for A4 and US
1320 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Thu, 16 Jul 1998 00:52:35 -0400
1322 developers-reference (2.4.1.2) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1324 * non-maintainer release
1325 * rebuilt since HTML versions of Chapters 1 and 2 were truncated
1326 (important bug, no number yet, bugs.debian.org isn't working;
1327 regardless, this should go in hamm because a broken developers
1328 reference won't win us many friends in hamm, and after all, it's just
1329 text, it can't hurt you.)
1330 * no content changes, except that the version number in the SGML file
1331 reflect this packages version number
1332 * debian/rule: clean is cleaner now
1334 -- Adam P. Harris <aph@debian.org> Tue, 16 Jun 1998 01:35:39 -0400
1336 developers-reference (2.4.1.1) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1340 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Thu, 14 May 1998 21:56:36 +0200
1342 developers-reference (2.4.1.0) frozen unstable; urgency=low
1344 * New version numbering scheme:
1346 - The version numbers are independent of dpkg now, but all policy
1347 manuals (the Debian Policy Manual, the Debian Packaging Manual, and
1348 the Debian Developer's Reference) share the same version numbering
1351 - The first three digits of the version number specify the
1352 `Standards-Version.' This number is incremented with each policy
1353 change. The fourth digit represents the `patch-level,' which may
1354 differ between the manuals.
1356 If only the patch-level digit is incremented, no changes in policy
1357 have been made, except bug fixes and clarifications. Packages only
1358 have to specify the first three digits of the version number in the
1359 `Standards-Version' field of their source packages.
1361 * Uploaded to frozen and unstable. This is a documentation-only
1362 package and the changes to the manual are relevant for hamm.
1364 * No changes to the Developer's Reference
1366 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Mon, 13 Apr 1998 17:54:43 +0200
1368 developers-reference (0.5) unstable; urgency=low
1370 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1372 - Changed section 1.2 Registering as a Debian developer:
1373 + signatures from formal certification service are _NOT_ accepted
1375 + images of ID documents have to be PGP or RSA signed
1376 (as requested by James Troup)
1378 - Use current date instead of <date> in manual
1380 * Updated FSF's address (reported by Lintian)
1382 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sat, 7 Mar 1998 13:52:15 +0100
1384 developers-reference (0.4) unstable; urgency=low
1386 * Changes to the Developer's Reference:
1388 - Renamed chapter 4 into `Package uploads'
1390 - New section 4.2.5 Uploading to the non-us server
1392 - Changed section 4.4 Interim releases:
1393 + non-maintainer releases should not close bugs
1394 + normal maintainer must at least read the patch provided with
1395 the non-maintainer release
1397 - New chapter 5 Handling bug reports:
1398 + when reporting more then 10 bugs on the same topic, a message
1399 has to be sent to debian-devel and the `maintonly' address
1402 - Lots of typos fixed
1404 * Compressed SGML source code
1406 * Added support for doc-base to register the Developer's Reference
1407 to the online documentation systems dwww and dhelp
1409 * Upgraded to standards version 2.4.0.0 (no changes)
1411 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Fri, 30 Jan 1998 21:58:34 +0100
1413 developers-reference (0.3) unstable; urgency=low
1415 * Put lost sections from Policy Manual 2.1.3.3 back in:
1416 - Generating the changes file (for uploads)
1417 - Announcing package uploads
1418 * New section about Debian Mentors
1419 * debian/rules: Don't use debstd anymore
1420 * debian/rules: Compress changelog file (fixes:#15441)
1421 * Fixed link to WNPP list (fixes:#16201)
1422 * Added menu entry (fixes:#15708)
1424 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Wed, 24 Dec 1997 13:54:33 +0100
1426 developers-reference (0.2) unstable; urgency=low
1428 * New chapter about `The Debian Archive' describing the structure
1429 of our FTP server and the development process
1430 * Added note that new maintainers have to read the Social Contract
1431 and have to know where to find the Policy and Packaging Manuals
1432 * PGP key ring is not distributed via dpkg but in doc/ of the FTP
1434 * Added note that cross posting between Debian lists is depreciated
1435 * New list of advantages why new packages should be discussed on
1436 debian-devel before they are uploaded
1437 * Added section about how packages are uploaded
1438 * Added note that the Security Managers may do interim releases without
1439 contacting the maintainer
1440 * Removed chapter about bug tracking system (will be included in
1441 a new manual released soon)
1442 * Some minor changes
1443 * Include SGML source in package
1444 * Don't use `2-up' style for PostScript version
1445 * Upgraded to Standards 2.3.0.1
1447 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Sun, 2 Nov 1997 20:53:26 +0100
1449 developers-reference (0.1) unstable; urgency=low
1453 -- Christian Schwarz <schwarz@debian.org> Tue, 8 Jul 1997 00:19:49 +0200