updated the when-to-do-source-NMUs section a little bit, prompted by Elie Rosenblum...

[developers-reference.git] / developers-reference.sgml

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  - bugs in upstream versions should be reported upstream!
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  <book>

      <title>Debian Developer's Reference
      <author>Adam Di Carlo, current maintainer <email>aph@debian.org</email>
      <author>Christian Schwarz <email>schwarz@debian.org</email>
      <author>Ian Jackson <email>ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu</email>
      <version>ver. &version;, &date-en;

      <copyright>
        <copyrightsummary>
copyright &copy;1998&mdash;2002 Adam Di Carlo</copyrightsummary>
        <copyrightsummary>
copyright &copy;1997, 1998 Christian Schwarz</copyrightsummary>
        <p>
This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any
later version.
        <p>
This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
<em>without any warranty</em>; without even the implied warranty of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
        <p>
A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as &file-GPL; in
the &debian-formal; distribution or on the World Wide Web at <url
id="&url-gpl;" name="the GNU web site">.  You can also obtain it by
writing to the &fsf-addr;.

    <toc detail="sect1">

    <chapt id="scope">Scope of This Document
      <p>
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the
recommended procedures and the available resources for Debian
developers.

<!-- FIXME: rewrites -->
      <p>
The procedures discussed within include how to become a maintainer
(<ref id="new-maintainer">); how to upload new packages (<ref
id="upload">); how and when to do ports and interim releases of other
maintainers' packages (<ref id="nmu">); how to move, remove, or orphan
packages (<ref id="archive-manip">); and how to handle bug reports
(<ref id="bug-handling">).
      <p>
The resources discussed in this reference include the mailing lists
(<ref id="mailing-lists">) and servers (<ref id="server-machines">); a
discussion of the structure of the Debian archive (<ref
id="archive">); explanation of the different servers which accept
package uploads (<ref id="upload-ftp-master">); and a discussion of
resources which can help maintainers with the quality of their
packages (<ref id="tools">).
      <p>
It should be clear that this reference does not discuss the technical
details of the Debian package nor how to generate Debian packages.
Nor does this reference detail the standards to which Debian software
must comply.  All of such information can be found in the <url
id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual">.
      <p>
Furthermore, this document is <em>not an expression of formal
policy</em>.  It contains documentation for the Debian system and
generally agreed-upon best practices.  Thus, it is what is called a
``normative'' document.


    <chapt id="new-maintainer">Applying to Become a Maintainer
        
      <sect id="getting-started">Getting started
        <p>
So, you've read all the documentation, you've gone through the <url
id="&url-newmaint-guide;" name="Debian New Maintainers' Guide">,
understand what everything in the <package>hello</package> example
package is for, and you're about to Debianize your favorite piece of
software.  How do you actually become a Debian developer so that your
work can be incorporated into the Project?
        <p>
Firstly, subscribe to &email-debian-devel; if you haven't already.
Send the word <tt>subscribe</tt> in the <em>Subject</em> of an email
to &email-debian-devel-req;.  In case of problems, contact the list
administrator at &email-listmaster;.  More information on available
mailing lists can be found in <ref id="mailing-lists">.
&email-debian-devel-announce; is another list which is mandatory
for anyone who wishes to follow Debian's development.
        <p>
You should subscribe and lurk (that is, read without posting) for a
bit before doing any coding, and you should post about your intentions
to work on something to avoid duplicated effort.
        <p>
Another good list to subscribe to is &email-debian-mentors;.  See <ref
id="mentors"> for details.  The IRC channel <tt>#debian</tt> on the
Linux People IRC network (e.g., <tt>irc.debian.org</tt>) can also be
helpful.

        <p>
When you know how you want to contribute to &debian-formal;, you
should get in contact with existing Debian maintainers who are working
on similar tasks.  That way, you can learn from experienced developers.
For example, if you are interested in packaging existing software for
Debian you should try to get a sponsor.  A sponsor will work together
with you on your package and upload it to the Debian archive once they
are happy with the packaging work you have done.  You can find a sponsor
by mailing the &email-debian-mentors; mailing list, describing your
package and yourself and asking for a sponsor (see <ref id="sponsoring">
for more information on sponsoring).  On the other hand, if you are
interested in porting Debian to alternative architectures or kernels
you can subscribe to port specific mailing lists and ask there how to
get started.  Finally, if you are interested in documentation or
Quality Assurance (QA) work you can join maintainers already working on
these tasks and submit patches and improvements.
 

      <sect id="registering">Registering as a Debian developer
        <p>
Before you decide to register with &debian-formal;, you will need to
read all the information available at the <url id="&url-newmaint;"
name="New Maintainer's Corner">.  It describes exactly the
preparations you have to do before you can register to become a Debian
developer.

For example, before you apply, you have to to read the <url
id="&url-social-contract;" name="Debian Social Contract">.
Registering as a developer means that you agree with and pledge to
uphold the Debian Social Contract; it is very important that
maintainers are in accord with the essential ideas behind
&debian-formal;.  Reading the <url id="&url-gnu-manifesto;" name="GNU
Manifesto"> would also be a good idea.
        <p>
The process of registering as a developer is a process of verifying
your identity and intentions, and checking your technical skills.  As
the number of people working on &debian-formal; has grown to over
&number-of-maintainers; people and our systems are used in several
very important places we have to be careful about being compromised.
Therefore, we need to verify new maintainers before we can give them
accounts on our servers and let them upload packages.
        <p>
Before you actually register you should have shown that you can do
competent work and will be a good contributor.  You can show this by
submitting patches through the Bug Tracking System or having a package
sponsored by an existing maintainer for a while.  Also, we expect that
contributors are interested in the whole project and not just in
maintaining their own packages.  If you can help other maintainers by
providing further information on a bug or even a patch, then do so!
        <p>
Registration requires that you are familiar with Debian's philosophy
and technical documentation.  Furthermore, you need a GnuPG key which
has been signed by an existing Debian maintainer.  If your GnuPG key
is not signed yet, you should try to meet a Debian maintainer in
person to get your key signed.  There's a <url id="&url-gpg-coord;"
name="GnuPG Key Signing Coordination page"> which should help you find
a maintainer close to you (If you cannot find a Debian maintainer
close to you, there's an alternative way to pass the ID check.  You
can send in a photo ID signed with your GnuPG key.  Having your GnuPG
key signed is the preferred way, however.  See the
<url id="&url-newmaint-id;" name="identification page"> for more
information about these two options.)

        <p>
If you do not have an OpenPGP key yet, generate one. Every developer
needs a OpenPGP key in order to sign and verify package uploads. You
should read the manual for the software you are using, since it has
much important information which is critical to its security.  Many
more security failures are due to human error than to software failure
or high-powered spy techniques.  See <ref id="key-maint"> for more
information on maintaining your public key.
        <p>
Debian uses the <prgn>GNU Privacy Guard</prgn> (package
<package>gnupg</package> version 1 or better) as its baseline standard.
You can use some other implementation of OpenPGP as well.  Note that
OpenPGP is an open standard based on <url id="&url-rfc2440;" name="RFC
2440">.
        <p>
The recommended public key algorithm for use in Debian development
work is DSA (sometimes call ``DSS'' or ``DH/ElGamal'').  Other key
types may be used however.  Your key length must be at least 1024
bits; there is no reason to use a smaller key, and doing so would be
much less secure.  Your key must be signed with at least your own user
ID; this prevents user ID tampering.  <prgn>gpg</prgn> does this
automatically.
        <p>
If your public key isn't on public key servers such as &pgp-keyserv;,
please read the documentation available locally in &file-keyservs;.
That document contains instructions on how to put your key on the
public key servers.  The New Maintainer Group will put your public key
on the servers if it isn't already there.
        <p>
Some countries restrict the use of cryptographic software by their
citizens.  This need not impede one's activities as a Debian package
maintainer however, as it may be perfectly legal to use cryptographic
products for authentication, rather than encryption purposes.
&debian-formal; does not require the use of cryptography <em>qua</em>
cryptography in any manner.  If you live in a country where use of
cryptography even for authentication is forbidden
then please contact us so we can make special arrangements.
        <p>
To apply as a new maintainer, you need an existing Debian maintainer
to verify your application (an <em>advocate</em>).  After you have
contributed to Debian for a while, and you want to apply to become a
registered developer, an existing developer with whom you
have worked over the past months has to express his belief that you
can contribute to Debian successfully.
        <p>
When you have found an advocate, have your GnuPG key signed and have
already contributed to Debian for a while, you're ready to apply.
You can simply register on our <url id="&url-newmaint-apply;"
name="application page">.  After you have signed up, your advocate
has to confirm your application.  When your advocate has completed
this step you will be assigned an Application Manager who will
go with you through the necessary steps of the New Maintainer process.
You can always check your status on the <url id="&url-newmaint-db;"
name="applications status board">.
        <p>
For more details, please consult <url id="&url-newmaint;" name="New
Maintainer's Corner"> at the Debian web site.  Make sure that you
are familiar with the necessary steps of the New Maintainer process
before actually applying.  If you are well prepared, you can save
a lot of time later on.


      <sect id="mentors">Debian mentors and sponsors
        <p>
The mailing list &email-debian-mentors; has been set up for novice
maintainers who seek help with initial packaging and other
developer-related issues.  Every new developer is invited to subscribe
to that list (see <ref id="mailing-lists"> for details).
        <p>
Those who prefer one-on-one help (e.g., via private email) should also
post to that list and an experienced developer will volunteer to help.
        <p>
In addition, if you have some packages ready for inclusion in Debian,
but are waiting for your new maintainer application to go through, you
might be able find a sponsor to upload your package for you.  Sponsors
are people who are official Debian maintainers, and who are willing to
criticize and upload your packages for you.  Those who are seeking a
sponsor can request one at <url id="&url-sponsors;">.
        <p>
If you wish to be a mentor and/or sponsor, more information is
available in <ref id="newmaint">.


    <chapt id="developer-duties">Debian Developer's Duties

      <sect id="user-maint">Maintaining your Debian information
        <p>
There's a LDAP database containing information about all
developers, you can access it at <url id="&url-debian-db;">. You can
update your password (this password is propagated to most of the machines
that are accessible to you), your address, your country, the latitude and
longitude of the point where you live, phone and fax numbers, your
preferred shell, your IRC nickname, your web page and the email that
you're using as alias for your debian.org email. Most of the information
is not accessible to the public, for more details about this
database, please read its online documentation that you can find
at <url id="&url-debian-db-doc;">.
        <p>
You have to keep the information available there up-to-date.

      <sect id="key-maint">Maintaining your public key
        <p>
Be very careful with your private keys.  Do not place them on any
public servers or multiuser machines, such as the Debian servers
(see <ref id="server-machines">).  Back your keys up; keep a copy offline.
Read the documentation that comes with your software; read the <url
id="&url-pgp-faq;" name="PGP FAQ">.
        <p>
If you add signatures to your public key, or add user identities, you
can update the Debian key ring by sending your key to the key server at
<tt>&keyserver-host;</tt>.  If you need to add a completely new key,
or remove an old key, send mail to &email-debian-keyring;.  The same
key extraction routines discussed in <ref id="registering"> apply.
        <p>
You can find a more in-depth discussion of Debian key maintenance in
the documentation of the <package>debian-keyring</package> package.


       <sect id="voting">Voting
        <p>
Even if Debian is not always a real democracy, Debian has democratic
tools and uses a democratic process to elect its leader or
to approve a general resolution. Those processes are described in
the <url id="&url-constitution;" name="Debian Constitution">.
        <p>
Democratic processes work well only if everybody take part in the
vote, that's why you have to vote. To be able to vote you have to
subscribe to &email-debian-devel-announce; since call for votes are sent
there. If you want to follow the debate preceding a vote, you
may want to subscribe to &email-debian-vote;.
        <p>
The list of all the proposals (past and current) is available on the
<url id="&url-vote;" name="Debian Voting Information"> page. You will find
there additional information about how to make a vote proposal.


      <sect id="inform-vacation">Going on vacation gracefully
        <p>
Most developers take vacations, and usually this means that they can't
work for Debian and they can't be reached by email if any problem occurs.
The other developers need to know that you're on vacation so that they'll
do whatever is needed when such a problem occurs. Usually this means that
other developers are allowed to NMU (see <ref id="nmu">) your package if a
big problem (release critical bugs, security update, etc.) occurs while
you're on vacation.
        <p>
In order to inform the other developers, there's two things that you should do.
First send a mail to &email-debian-private; giving the period of time when
you will be on vacation.  You can also give some special instructions on what to
do if any problem occurs. Be aware that some people don't care for vacation
notices and don't want to read them; you should prepend "[VAC] " to the
subject of your message so that it can be easily filtered.
        <p>
Next you should update your information
available in the Debian LDAP database and mark yourself as ``on vacation''
(this information is only accessible to debian developers). Don't forget
to remove the ``on vacation'' flag when you come back!

      <sect id="upstream-coordination">Coordination with upstream developers
        <p>
A big part of your job as Debian maintainer will be to stay in contact
with the upstream developers.  Debian users will sometimes report bugs
to the Bug Tracking System that are not specific to Debian.  You
must forward these bug reports to the upstream developers so that
they can be fixed in a future release.  It's not your job to fix
non-Debian specific bugs.  However, if you are able to do so, you are
encouraged to contribute to upstream development of the package by
providing a fix for the bug.  Debian users and developers will often
submit patches to fix upstream bugs, and you should evaluate and
forward these patches upstream.
        <p>
If you need to modify the upstream sources in order to build a policy
compliant package, then you should propose a nice fix to the upstream
developers which can be included there, so that you won't have to
modify the sources of the next upstream version. Whatever changes you
need, always try not to fork from the upstream sources.

      <sect id="rc-bugs">Managing release-critical bugs
        <p>
Release-critical bugs (RCB) are all bugs that have severity
<em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em> or <em>serious</em>.
Those bugs can delay the Debian release
and/or can justify the removal of a package at freeze time. That's why
these bugs need to be corrected as quickly as possible.  You must be
aware that some developers who are part of the <url
id="&url-debian-qa;" name="Debian Quality Assurance"> effort are
following those bugs and try to help you whenever they are able. But if
you can't fix such bugs within 2 weeks, you should either ask for help
by sending a mail to the Quality Assurance (QA) group
&email-debian-qa;, or explain your difficulties and present a plan to fix
them by sending a mail to the proper bug report. Otherwise, people
from the QA group may want to do a Non-Maintainer Upload (see
<ref id="nmu">) after trying to contact you (they might not wait as long as
usual before they do their NMU if they have seen no recent activity from you
in the BTS).


      <sect>Retiring
        <p>
If you choose to leave the Debian project, you should make sure you do
the following steps:
<enumlist>
            <item>
Orphan all your packages, as described in <ref id="orphaning">.
            <item>
Send an email about how you are leaving the project to
&email-debian-private;.
            <item>
Notify the Debian key ring maintainers that you are leaving by
emailing to &email-debian-keyring;.
</enumlist>



   <chapt id="resources">Resources for Debian Developers
     <p>
In this chapter you will find a very brief road map of the Debian
mailing lists, the Debian machines
which may be available to you as a developer, and all the other
resources that are available to help you in your maintainer work.

      <sect id="mailing-lists">Mailing lists
        <p>
The mailing list server is at <tt>&lists-host;</tt>.
        <p>
Online archives of mailing lists are available at <url
id="&url-lists-archives;">.

        <sect1 id="core-devel-mailing-lists">Core development mailing lists
        <p>
The core Debian mailing lists that developers should use are:
<list>
  <item>&email-debian-devel-announce;, used to announce important things to
        developers.
        All developers are expected to be subscribed to this list.
  </item>
  <item>&email-debian-devel;, used to discuss various development related
        technical issues.
  </item>
  <item>&email-debian-policy;, where the Debian Policy is discussed and
        voted on.
  </item>
  <item>&email-debian-project;, used to discuss various non-technical
        issues related to the project.
  </item>
</list>
        <p>
There are
other mailing lists available for a variety of special topics; see
<url id="&url-debian-lists-subscribe;"> for a list.

        <sect1 id="mailing-lists-subunsub">Subscribing and unsubscribing
        <p>
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from any of the Debian mailing lists, email
<tt>debian-<var>foo</var>-REQUEST@&lists-host;</tt>, where
<tt>debian-<var>foo</var></tt> is the name of the list, with the word
<tt>subscribe</tt> in the <em>Subject</em> to subscribe to the list or
<tt>unsubscribe</tt> to unsubscribe.
        <p>
If you prefer to use a web page to subscribe to multiple mailing lists,
there's one at <url id="&url-debian-lists-subscribe;">.
        <p>
You can download the current list of mailing lists and basic usage
instructions from <url id="&url-debian-lists-txt;">
or install the <package>doc-debian</package> package and have it
locally in &file-mail-lists;.

        <sect1 id="mailing-lists-rules">Basic rules for use
        <p>
When replying to messages on the mailing list, please do not send a
carbon copy (<tt>CC</tt>) to the original poster unless they explicitly
request to be copied.  Anyone who posts to a mailing list should read
it to see the responses.
        <p>
Cross-posting (sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.
As ever on the net, please trim down the quoting of articles you're
replying to.  In general, please adhere to the usual conventions for
posting messages. Please read the <url name="code of conduct"
id="&url-debian-lists;"> for more information.

        <sect1 id="mailing-lists-special">Special lists
        <p>
&email-debian-private; is a special mailing list for private
discussions amongst Debian developers.  It is meant to be used for
posts which for whatever reason should not be published publicly.
As such, it is a low volume list, and users are urged not to use
&email-debian-private; unless it is really necessary.  Moreover, do
<em>not</em> forward email from that list to anyone.  Archives of this
list are not available on the web for obvious reasons, but you can see
them using your shell account on <tt>lists.debian.org</tt> and looking
in the <file>~debian/archive/debian-private</file> directory.
        <p>
&email-debian-email; is a special mailing list used as a grab-bag 
for Debian related correspondence such as contacting upstream authors
about licenses, bugs, etc. or discussing the project with others where it
might be useful to have the discussion archived somewhere.

      <sect id="irc-channels">IRC channels
        <p>
Several IRC channels are dedicated to Debian's development. They are all
hosted on the <url id="&url-openprojects;" name="OpenProjects"> network.
The <tt>irc.debian.org</tt> DNS entry is just an alias to
<tt>irc.openprojects.net</tt>.
        <p>
The main channel <em>#debian-devel</em> is very active since more
than 150 persons are always logged in. It's a channel for people who work
on Debian, it's not a support channel (there's <em>#debian</em> for that).
It is however open to anyone who wants to lurk (and learn). Its topic is
always full of interesting information. Since it's an open channel, you
should not speak there of issues that are discussed in
&email-debian-private;. There's a key protected channel
<em>#debian-private</em> for that purpose. The key is available 
in the archives of debian-private in
<file>master.debian.org:&file-debian-private-archive;</file>,
just <prgn>zgrep</prgn> for <em>#debian-private</em> in
all the files.
        <p>
There are other additional channels dedicated to specific subjects.
<em>#debian-bugs</em> is used for coordinating bug squash parties.
<em>#debian-boot</em> is used to coordinate the work on the boot
floppies (i.e. the installer). <em>#debian-doc</em> is
occasionally used to work on documentation like the one you are
reading. Other channels are dedicated to an architecture or a set of
packages: <em>#debian-bsd</em>, <em>#debian-kde</em>,
<em>#debian-sf</em> (SourceForge package), <em>#debian-oo</em> (OpenOffice
package) ...
        <p>
Some non-English channels exist, for example <em>#debian-devel-fr</em> for
French speaking people interested in Debian's development.


      <sect id="doc-rsrcs">Documentation
        <p>
This document contains a lot of information very useful to Debian developers,
but it can not contain everything. Most of the other interesting documents
are linked from <url id="&url-devel-docs;" name="The Developers' Corner">.
Take the time to browse all the links, you will learn many more things.


      <sect id="server-machines">Debian machines
        <p>
Debian has several computers working as servers, most of which serve
critical functions in the Debian project. Most of the machines are used
for porting activities, and they all have a permanent connection to the
Internet.
        <p>
Most of the machines are available for individual developers to use,
as long as the developers follow the rules set forth in the
<url name="Debian Machine Usage Policies" id="&url-dmup;">.
        <p>
Generally speaking, you can use these machines for Debian-related purposes
as you see fit.  Please be kind to system administrators, and do not use
up tons and tons of disk space, network bandwidth, or CPU without first
getting the approval of the admins.  Usually these machines are run by
volunteers.
        <p>
Please take care to protect your Debian passwords and SSH keys installed on
Debian machines. Avoid login or upload methods which send passwords over
the Internet in the clear, such as telnet, FTP, POP etc.
        <p>
Please do not put any material that doesn't relate to Debian on the Debian
servers, unless you have prior permission.
        <p>
The current list of Debian machines is available at
<url id="&url-devel-machines;">. That web page contains machine names,
contact information, information about who can log in, SSH keys etc.
        <p>
If you have a problem with the operation of a Debian server, and you
think that the system operators need to be notified of this problem,
the Debian system administrator team is reachable at
<email>debian-admin@lists.debian.org</email>.
        <p>
If you have a problem with a certain service, not related to the system
administration (such as packages to be removed from the archive,
suggestions for the web site, etc.),
generally you'll report a bug against a ``pseudo-package''.  See <ref
id="submit-bug"> for information on how to submit bugs.

      <sect1 id="servers-bugs">The bugs server
        <p>
<tt>bugs.debian.org</tt> is the canonical location for the Bug Tracking
System (BTS).  If you plan on doing some statistical analysis or
processing of Debian bugs, this would be the place to do it.  Please
describe your plans on &email-debian-devel; before implementing
anything, however, to reduce unnecessary duplication of effort or
wasted processing time.
        <p>
All Debian developers have accounts on <tt>bugs.debian.org</tt>.

      <sect1 id="servers-ftp-master">The ftp-master server
        <p>
The <tt>ftp-master.debian.org</tt> server holds the canonical copy of the Debian
archive (excluding the non-US packages). Generally, package uploads
go to this server; see <ref id="upload">.
        <p>
Problems with the Debian FTP archive generally need to be reported as
bugs against the <package>ftp.debian.org</package> pseudo-package or
an email to &email-ftpmaster;, but also see the procedures in
<ref id="archive-manip">.

      <sect1 id="servers-non-us">The non-US server
        <p>
The non-US server, <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>,
holds the canonical copy of the non-US part of the Debian archive.
If you need to upload a package into one of the non-US sections, upload it
to this server; see <ref id="upload-non-us">.
        <p>
Problems with the non-US package archive should generally be submitted as
bugs against the <package>nonus.debian.org</package> pseudo-package (notice
the lack of hyphen between "non" and "us" in the pseudo-package name
&mdash; that's for backwards compatibility). Remember to check whether or
not someone else has already reported the problem on the
<url id="http://bugs.debian.org/nonus.debian.org" name="Bug Tracking System">.

      <sect1 id="servers-www">The www-master server
        <p>
The main web server is <tt>www-master.debian.org</tt>.
It holds the official web pages, the face
of Debian for most newbies.
        <p>
If you find a problem with the Debian web server, you should generally
submit a bug against the pseudo-package,
<package>www.debian.org</package>. Remember to check whether or not someone
else has already reported the problem on the
<url id="http://bugs.debian.org/www.debian.org" name="Bug Tracking System">.

      <sect1 id="servers-people">The people web server
        <p>
<tt>people.debian.org</tt> is the server used
for developers' own web pages about anything related to Debian.
        <p>
If you have some Debian-specific information which you want to serve
on the web, you can do this by putting material in the
<file>public_html</file> directory under your home directory on
<tt>people.debian.org</tt>.
This will be accessible at the URL
<tt>http://people.debian.org/~<var>your-user-id</var>/</tt>.
        <p>
You should only use this particular location because it will be backed up,
whereas on other hosts it won't.
        <p>
Usually the only reason to use a different host is when you need to publish
materials subject to the U.S. export restrictions, in which case you can use
one of the other servers located outside the United States, such as the
aforementioned <tt>non-us.debian.org</tt>.
        <p>
Send mail to &email-debian-devel; if you have any questions.

      <sect1 id="servers-cvs">The CVS server
        <p>
Our CVS server is located on <tt>cvs.debian.org</tt>.
        <p>
If you need to use a publicly accessible CVS
server, for instance, to help coordinate work on a package between
many different developers, you can request a CVS area on the server.
          <p>
Generally, <tt>cvs.debian.org</tt> offers a combination of local CVS
access, anonymous client-server read-only access, and full
client-server access through <prgn>ssh</prgn>.  Also, the CVS area can
be accessed read-only via the Web at <url id="&url-cvsweb;">.
        <p>
To request a CVS area, send a request via email to
&email-debian-admin;.  Include the name of the requested CVS area,
the Debian account that should own the CVS root area, and why you need it.


    <sect id="devel-db">The Developers Database
        <p>
The Developers Database, at <url id="&url-debian-db;">, is an LDAP
directory for managing Debian developer attributes.  You can use this
resource to search the list of Debian developers.  For information on
keeping your entry the developer database up-to-date, see <ref
id="user-maint">. Part of this information is also available through
the finger service on Debian servers, try
<prgn>finger yourlogin@debian.org</prgn> to see what it reports.


    <sect id="servers-mirrors">Mirrors of Debian servers
        <p>
The web and FTP servers have several mirrors available.  Please do not
put heavy load on the canonical FTP or web servers.  Ideally, the
canonical servers only mirror out to a first tier of mirrors, and all
user access is to the mirrors.  This allows Debian to better spread
its bandwidth requirements over several servers and networks.  Note
that newer push mirroring techniques ensure that mirrors are as
up-to-date as they can be.
        <p>
The main web page listing the available public FTP/HTTP
servers can be found at <url id="&url-debian-mirrors;">.  More
information concerning Debian mirrors can be found at <url
id="&url-debian-mirroring;">.  This useful page includes information
and tools which can be helpful if you are interested in setting up
your own mirror, either for internal or public access.
        <p>
Note that mirrors are generally run by third-parties who are
interested in helping Debian.  As such, developers generally do not
have accounts on these machines.


    <sect id="archive">The Debian archive
        <p>
The &debian-formal; distribution consists of a lot of packages
(<file>.deb</file>'s, currently around &number-of-pkgs;) and a few
additional files (such documentation and installation disk images).
        <p>
Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian archive:
        <p>
&sample-dist-dirtree;
        <p>
As you can see, the top-level directory contains two directories,
<file>dists/</file> and <file>pool/</file>. The latter is a &ldquo;pool&rdquo; in which the
packages actually are, and which is handled by the archive maintenance
database and the accompanying programs. The former contains the
distributions, <em>stable</em>, <em>testing</em> and <em>unstable</em>.
The <file>Packages</file> and <file>Sources</file> files in the
distribution subdirectories can reference files in the <file>pool/</file>
directory. The directory tree below each of the distributions is arranged
in an identical manner.  What we describe below for <em>stable</em> is
equally applicable to the <em>unstable</em> and <em>testing</em>
distributions. 
        <p>
<file>dists/stable</file> contains three directories, namely <file>main</file>,
<file>contrib</file>, and <file>non-free</file>. 
        <p>
In each of the areas, there is a directory for the source packages
(<file>source</file>) and a directory for each supported architecture
(<file>binary-i386</file>, <file>binary-m68k</file>, etc.).
        <p>
The <file>main</file> area contains additional directories which holds
the disk images and some essential pieces of documentation required
for installing the Debian distribution on a specific architecture
(<file>disks-i386</file>, <file>disks-m68k</file>, etc.).


      <sect1>Sections
        <p>
The <em>main</em> section of the Debian archive is what makes up the
<strong>official &debian-formal; distribution</strong>.  The
<em>main</em> section is official because it fully complies with all
our guidelines.  The other two sections do not, to different degrees;
as such, they are <strong>not</strong> officially part of
&debian-formal;.
        <p>
Every package in the main section must fully comply with the <url
id="&url-dfsg;" name="Debian Free Software Guidelines"> (DFSG) and
with all other policy requirements as described in the <url
id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual">.  The DFSG is
our definition of &ldquo;free software.&rdquo;  Check out the Debian Policy
Manual for details.
        <p>
Packages in the <em>contrib</em> section have to comply with the DFSG,
but may fail other requirements.  For instance, they may depend on
non-free packages.
        <p>
Packages which do not conform to the DFSG are placed in the
<em>non-free</em> section. These packages are not considered as part
of the Debian distribution, though we support their use, and we
provide infrastructure (such as our bug-tracking system and mailing
lists) for non-free software packages.
        <p>
The <url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual">
contains a more exact definition of the three sections. The above
discussion is just an introduction.
        <p>
The separation of the three sections at the top-level of the archive
is important for all people who want to distribute Debian, either via
FTP servers on the Internet or on CD-ROMs: by distributing only the
<em>main</em> and <em>contrib</em> sections, one can avoid any legal
risks.  Some packages in the <em>non-free</em> section do not allow
commercial distribution, for example.
        <p>
On the other hand, a CD-ROM vendor could easily check the individual
package licenses of the packages in <em>non-free</em> and include as
many on the CD-ROMs as he's allowed to. (Since this varies greatly from
vendor to vendor, this job can't be done by the Debian developers.)


      <sect1>Architectures
        <p>
In the first days, the Linux kernel was only available for the Intel
i386 (or greater) platforms, and so was Debian. But when Linux became
more and more popular, the kernel was ported to other architectures,
too.
        <p>
The Linux 2.0 kernel supports Intel x86, DEC Alpha, SPARC, Motorola
680x0 (like Atari, Amiga and Macintoshes), MIPS, and PowerPC.  The
Linux 2.2 kernel supports even more architectures, including ARM and
UltraSPARC.  Since Linux supports these platforms, Debian decided that
it should, too.  Therefore, Debian has ports underway; in fact, we
also have ports underway to non-Linux kernel.  Aside from
<em>i386</em> (our name for Intel x86), there is <em>m68k</em>,
<em>alpha</em>, <em>powerpc</em>, <em>sparc</em>, <em>hurd-i386</em>,
<em>arm</em>, <em>ia64</em>, <em>hppa</em>, <em>s390</em>, <em>mips</em>,
<em>mipsel</em> and <em>sh</em> as of this writing.
        <p>
&debian-formal; 1.3 is only available as <em>i386</em>.  Debian 2.0
shipped for <em>i386</em> and <em>m68k</em> architectures.  Debian 2.1
ships for the <em>i386</em>, <em>m68k</em>, <em>alpha</em>, and
<em>sparc</em> architectures.  Debian 2.2 added support for the
<em>powerpc</em> and <em>arm</em> architectures. Debian 3.0 adds
support of five new architectures: <em>ia64</em>, <em>hppa</em>,
<em>s390</em>, <em>mips</em> and <em>mipsel</em>.
        <p>
Information for developers or uses about the specific ports are
available at the <url id="&url-debian-ports;" name="Debian Ports web
pages">.


<!--      <sect1>Subsections
        <p>
The sections <em>main</em>, <em>contrib</em>, and <em>non-free</em>
are split into <em>subsections</em> to simplify the installation
process and the maintenance of the archive. Subsections simply exist to
simplify the organization and browsing of available packages. The
<url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual"> gives
the authoritative list of subsections.

        <p>
Note however that with the introduction of package pools (see the top-level
<em>pool/</em> directory), the subsections in the form of subdirectories
will eventually cease to exist. They will be kept in the packages' `Section'
header fields, though. -->

      <sect1>Packages
        <p>
There are two types of Debian packages, namely <em>source</em> and
<em>binary</em> packages.
        <p>
Source packages consist of either two or three files: a <file>.dsc</file>
file, and either a <file>.tar.gz</file> file or both an
<file>.orig.tar.gz</file> and a <file>.diff.gz</file> file.
        <p>
If a package is developed specially for Debian and is not distributed
outside of Debian, there is just one <file>.tar.gz</file> file which
contains the sources of the program.  If a package is distributed
elsewhere too, the <file>.orig.tar.gz</file> file stores the so-called
<em>upstream source code</em>, that is the source code that's
distributed from the <em>upstream maintainer</em> (often the author of
the software). In this case, the <file>.diff.gz</file> contains the
changes made by the Debian maintainer.
        <p>
The <file>.dsc</file> file lists all the files in the source package together
with checksums (<prgn>md5sums</prgn>) and some additional info about
the package (maintainer, version, etc.).


      <sect1>Distribution directories
        <p>
The directory system described in the previous chapter is itself
contained within <em>distribution directories</em>.  Each
distribution is actually contained in the <file>pool</file> directory in the
top-level of the Debian archive itself.
        <p>
To summarize, the Debian archive has a root directory within an FTP
server.  For instance, at the mirror site,
<ftpsite>ftp.us.debian.org</ftpsite>, the Debian archive itself is
contained in <ftppath>/debian</ftppath>, which is a common location
(another is <file>/pub/debian</file>).
        <p>
A distribution is comprised of Debian source and binary packages, and the
respective <file>Sources</file> and <file>Packages</file> index files, containing
the header information from all those packages. The former are kept in the
<file>pool/</file> directory, while the latter are kept in the <file>dists/</file>
directory of the archive (for backwards compatibility).


        <sect2 id="sec-dists">Stable, testing, and unstable
        <p>
There are always distributions called <em>stable</em> (residing in
<file>dists/stable</file>), one called <em>testing</em> (residing in
<file>dists/testing</file>), and one called <em>unstable</em> (residing in
<file>dists/unstable</file>). This reflects the development process of the
Debian project.
        <p>
Active development is done in the <em>unstable</em> distribution
(that's why this distribution is sometimes called the <em>development
distribution</em>). Every Debian developer can update his or her
packages in this distribution at any time. Thus, the contents of this
distribution changes from day-to-day. Since no special effort is done
to make sure everything in this distribution is working properly, it is
sometimes literally unstable.
        <p>
<ref id="testing"> is generated automatically by taking
packages from unstable if they satisfy certain criteria. Those
criteria should ensure a good quality for packages within testing.
The update to testing is launched each day after the
new packages have been installed.
        <p>
After a period of development, once the release manager deems fit, the
<em>testing</em> distribution is frozen, meaning that the policies
which control how packages move from <em>unstable</em> to <em>testing</em> are
tightened.  Packages which are too buggy are removed.  No changes are
allowed into <em>testing</em> except for bug fixes.  After some time
has elapsed, depending on progress, the <em>testing</em> distribution
goes into a `deep freeze', when no changes are made to it except those
needed for the installation system.  This is called a &ldquo;test cycle&rdquo;,
and it can last up to two weeks. There can be several test cycles,
until the distribution is prepared for release, as decided by the
release manager.  At the end of the last test cycle, the
<em>testing</em> distribution is renamed to <em>stable</em>,
overriding the old <em>stable</em> distribution, which is removed at
that time (although it can be found at <tt>&archive-host;</tt>).
        <p>
This development cycle is based on the assumption that the
<em>unstable</em> distribution becomes <em>stable</em> after passing a
period of being in <em>testing</em>.  Even once a distribution is
considered stable, a few bugs inevitably remain &mdash; that's why the
stable distribution is updated every now and then. However, these
updates are tested very carefully and have to be introduced into the
archive individually to reduce the risk of introducing new bugs.  You
can find proposed additions to <em>stable</em> in the
<file>proposed-updates</file> directory.  Those packages in
<file>proposed-updates</file> that pass muster are periodically moved as a
batch into the stable distribution and the revision level of the
stable distribution is incremented (e.g., &lsquo;3.0&rsquo; becomes
&lsquo;3.0r1&rsquo;, &lsquo;2.2r4&rsquo; becomes &lsquo;2.2r5&rsquo;, and
so forth).
        <p>
Note that development under <em>unstable</em> continues during the
freeze period, since the <em>unstable</em> distribution remains in
place in parallel with <em>testing</em>.

        <sect2>Experimental
          <p>
The <em>experimental</em> distribution is a special distribution.
It is not a full distribution in the same sense as `stable' and
`unstable' are.  Instead, it is meant to be a temporary staging area
for highly experimental software where there's a good chance that the
software could break your system, or software that's just too unstable
even for the <em>unstable</em> distribution (but there is a reason to
package it nevertheless).  Users who download and install
packages from <em>experimental</em> are expected to have been duly
warned.  In short, all bets are off for the <em>experimental</em>
distribution.
          <p>
If there is a chance that the software could do grave damage to a system,
it is likely to be better to put it into <em>experimental</em>.
For instance, an experimental compressed file system should probably go
into <em>experimental</em>.
          <p>
Whenever there is a new upstream version of a package that introduces new
features but breaks a lot of old ones, it should either not be uploaded, or
be uploaded to <em>experimental</em>. A new, beta, version of some software
which uses completely different configuration can go into
<em>experimental</em>, at the maintainer's discretion. If you are working
on an incompatible or complex upgrade situation, you can also use
<em>experimental</em> as a staging area, so that testers can get early
access.
          <p>
Some experimental software can still go into <em>unstable</em>, with a few
warnings in the description, but that isn't recommended because packages
from <em>unstable</em> are expected to propagate to <em>testing</em> and
thus to <em>stable</em>. You should not be afraid to use
<em>experimental</em> since it does not cause any pain to the ftpmasters,
the experimental packages are automatically removed once you upload
the package in <em>unstable</em> with a higher version number.
          <p>
New software which isn't likely to damage your system can go directly into
<em>unstable</em>.
          <p>
An alternative to <em>experimental</em> is to use your personal web space
on <tt>people.debian.org</tt>.


      <sect1 id="codenames">Release code names
        <p>
Every released Debian distribution has a <em>code name</em>: Debian
1.1 is called `buzz'; Debian 1.2, `rex'; Debian 1.3, `bo'; Debian 2.0,
`hamm'; Debian 2.1, `slink'; Debian 2.2, `potato'; and Debian 3.0, `woody'.  There is also
a ``pseudo-distribution'', called `sid', which is the current
`unstable' distribution; since packages are moved from `unstable' to
`testing' as they approach stability, `sid' itself is never released.
As well as the usual contents of a Debian distribution, `sid' contains
packages for architectures which are not yet officially supported or
released by Debian.  These architectures are planned to be integrated
into the mainstream distribution at some future date.
        <p>
Since Debian has an open development model (i.e., everyone can
participate and follow the development) even the `unstable' and `testing'
distributions are distributed to the Internet through the Debian FTP and
HTTP server network. Thus, if we had called the directory which contains
the release candidate version `testing', then we would have to rename it
to `stable' when the version is released, which would cause all FTP
mirrors to re-retrieve the whole distribution (which is quite large).
        <p>
On the other hand, if we called the distribution directories
<em>Debian-x.y</em> from the beginning, people would think that Debian
release <em>x.y</em> is available. (This happened in the past, where a
CD-ROM vendor built a Debian 1.0 CD-ROM based on a pre-1.0 development
version. That's the reason why the first official Debian release was
1.1, and not 1.0.)
        <p>
Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the archive are
determined by their code names and not their release status (e.g.,
`slink').  These names stay the same during the development period and
after the release; symbolic links, which can be changed easily,
indicate the currently released stable distribution.  That's why the
real distribution directories use the <em>code names</em>, while
symbolic links for <em>stable</em>, <em>testing</em>, and
<em>unstable</em> point to the appropriate release directories.

    <sect id="incoming-system">
        <heading>The Incoming system
        <p>
The Incoming system is responsible of collecting updated packages and
installing them in the Debian archive. It consists of a set of
directories and scripts that are installed both on <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt>
and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>.
        <p>
Packages are uploaded by all the maintainers into a directory called
<file>unchecked</file>. This directory is scanned every 15 minutes by the katie script
that verifies the integrity of the uploaded packages and the cryptographic
signatures.  If the package is considered ready to be installed, it
is moved into the <file>accepted</file> directory. If this is the first upload of
the package, it is moved in the <file>new</file> directory, where it waits
for an approval of the ftpmasters. If the package contains files to be installed
"by-hand" is is moved in the <file>byhand</file> directory, where it waits
for a manual installation by the ftpmasters. Otherwise, if any error has been detected,
the package is refused and is moved in the <file>reject</file> directory.
        <p>
Once the package is accepted the system sends a confirmation
mail to the maintainer, closes all the bugs marked as fixed by the upload
and the auto-builders may start recompiling it. The package is now publicly
accessible at <url id="&url-incoming;"> (there is no
such URL for packages in the non-US archive) until it is really installed
in the Debian archive. This happens only once a day, the package
is then removed from incoming and installed in the pool along with all
the other packages. Once all the other updates (generating new
<file>Packages</file> and <file>Sources</file> index files for example) have been
made, a special script is called to ask all the primary mirrors to update
themselves.
        <p>
All debian developers have write access to the <file>unchecked</file>
directory in order to upload their packages, they also have that access
to the <file>reject</file> directory in order to remove their bad uploads
or to move some files back in the <file>unchecked</file> directory. But
all the other directories are only writable by the ftpmasters, that is
why you can not remove an upload once it has been accepted.

      <sect1 id="delayed-incoming">Delayed incoming
        <p>     
The <file>unchecked</file> directory has a special <file>DELAYED</file>
subdirectory. It is itself subdivided in nine directories
called <file>1-day</file> to <file>9-day</file>. Packages which are uploaded in
one of those directories will be moved in the real unchecked
directory after the corresponding number of days.
This is done by a script that is run each day and which moves the
packages between the directories. Those which are in "1-day" are
installed in <file>unchecked</file> while the others are moved in the 
adjacent directory (for example, a package in <file>5-day</file> will
be moved in <file>4-day</file>). This feature is particularly useful
for people who are doing non-maintainer uploads. Instead of
waiting before uploading a NMU, it is uploaded as soon as it is
ready but in one of those <file>DELAYED/<var>x</var>-day</file> directories.
That leaves the corresponding number of days for the maintainer
to react and upload another fix themselves if they are not
completely satisfied with the NMU. Alternatively they can remove
the NMU.
        <p>
The use of that delayed feature can be simplified with a bit
of integration with your upload tool.  For instance, if you use 
<prgn>dupload</prgn> (see <ref id="dupload">), you can add this
snippet to your configuration file:
<example>
$delay = ($ENV{DELAY} || 7);
$cfg{'delayed'} = {
         fqdn => "&ftp-master-host;",
         login => "yourdebianlogin",
         incoming => "/org/ftp.debian.org/incoming/DELAYED/$delay-day/",
         dinstall_runs => 1,
         method => "scpb"
};
</example>
Once you've made that change, <prgn>dupload</prgn> can be used to
easily upload a package in one of the delayed directories:
<example>DELAY=5 dupload --to delayed &lt;changes-file&gt;</example>

    <sect id="testing">
        <heading>The "testing" distribution</heading>
        <p>
The scripts that update the <em>testing</em> distribution are run each day
after the installation of the
updated packages. They generate the <file>Packages</file> files for
the <em>testing</em> distribution, but they do so in an intelligent manner
trying to avoid any inconsistency and trying to use only
non-buggy packages.
        <p>The inclusion of a package from <em>unstable</em> is conditional on the following:
<list>
    <item>
The package must have been available in <em>unstable</em> for several days;
the precise number depends on the upload's urgency field. It
is 10 days for low urgency, 5 days for medium urgency and 2 days for high
urgency. Those delays may be doubled during a freeze;
    <item>
It must have less release-critical bugs than the version available
in <em>testing</em>;
    <item>
It must be available on all architectures on which it has been
previously built. <ref id="madison"> may be of interest to
check that information;
    <item>
It must not break any dependency of a package that is already available
in <em>testing</em>;
    <item>
The packages on which it depends must either be available in <em>testing</em>
or they must be accepted into <em>testing</em> at the same time (and they will
if they respect themselves all the criteria);
</list>
        <p>
The scripts are generating some output files to explain why some packages
are kept out of testing. They are available at <url
id="&url-testing-maint;">. Alternatively, it is possible to use
the <prgn>grep-excuses</prgn> program part of the
<package>devscripts</package> package. It can be easily put in a crontab
to keep someone informed of the progression of his packages in <em>testing</em>.
        <p>
The <file>update_excuses</file> file does not always give the precise reason
why the package is refused, one may have to find it on their own by looking
what would break with the inclusion of the package. The <url
id="&url-testing-faq;" name="testing FAQ"> gives some more information
about the usual problems which may be causing such troubles.
        <p>
Sometimes, some packages never enter <em>testing</em> because the set of
inter-relationship is too complicated and can not be sorted out
by the scripts. In that case, the release manager must be
contacted, and he will force the inclusion of the packages.

    <sect id="pkg-info">Package's information
        <p>

      <sect1 id="pkg-info-web">On the web
        <p>
Each package has several dedicated web pages that contain a lot of
information. <tt>http://&packages-host;/<var>package-name</var></tt>
will display each version of the package
available in the various distributions.  The per-version detailed
information includes the package description,
the dependencies and links to download the package.
        <p>
The bug tracking system sorts the bugs by package, you can
watch the bugs of each package at
<tt>http://&bugs-host;/<var>package-name</var></tt>.

      <sect1 id="madison">The <prgn>madison</prgn> utility
        <p>
<prgn>madison</prgn> is a command-line utility that is available
on both <tt>&ftp-master-host;</tt> and <tt>&non-us-host;</tt>. It
uses a single argument corresponding to a package name. In result
it displays which version of the package is available for each
architecture and distribution combination. An example will explain
it better.
        <p>
<example>
$ madison libdbd-mysql-perl
libdbd-mysql-perl |   1.2202-4 |        stable | source, alpha, arm, i386, m68k, powerpc, sparc
libdbd-mysql-perl |   1.2216-2 |       testing | source, arm, hppa, i386, ia64, m68k, mips, mipsel, powerpc, s390, sparc
libdbd-mysql-perl | 1.2216-2.0.1 |       testing | alpha
libdbd-mysql-perl |   1.2219-1 |      unstable | source, alpha, arm, hppa, i386, ia64, m68k, mips, mipsel, powerpc, s390, sparc
</example>
        <p>
In this example, you can see that the version in <em>unstable</em> differs from
the version in <em>testing</em> and that there has been a binary-only NMU of the
package for the alpha architecture. Each time the package has been
recompiled on most of the architectures.

    <sect id="pkg-tracking-system">The Package Tracking System
        <p>
The Package Tracking System (PTS) is basically a tool to track by mail
the activity of a source package. You just have to subscribe
to a source package to start getting the mails related to it. 
You get the same mails than the maintainer. Each mail
sent through the PTS is classified and associated to one of
the keyword listed below. This will let you select the mails that
you want to receive.
        <p>
By default you will get:
<taglist>
    <tag><tt>bts</tt>
    <item>
All the bug reports and following discussions.

    <tag><tt>bts-control</tt>
    <item>
The control mails notifying a status change in one of the bugs.
    
    <tag><tt>upload-source</tt>
    <item>
The confirmation mail from <prgn>katie</prgn> when an uploaded source
package is accepted.

    <tag><tt>katie-other</tt>
    <item>
Other warning and error mails from <prgn>katie</prgn> (like the
override disparity for the section or priority field).

    <tag><tt>default</tt>
    <item>
Any non-automatic mail sent to the PTS by people who wanted to
contact the subscribers of the package.

    <tag><tt>summary</tt>
    <item>
In the future, you may receive regular summary mails to keep you
informed of the package's status (bug statistics, porting overview,
progression in <em>testing</em>, ...).
</taglist>
        <p>
You can also decide to receive some more information:
<taglist>
    <tag><tt>upload-binary</tt>
    <item>
The confirmation mail from <prgn>katie</prgn> when an uploaded binary
package is accepted (to check that your package is recompiled for all
architectures).

    <tag><tt>cvs</tt>
    <item>
CVS commits if the maintainer has setup a system to forward commit
notification to the PTS.
</taglist>

        <sect1 id="pts-commands">The PTS email interface
        <p>
You can control your subscription(s) to the PTS by sending
various commands to <email>pts@qa.debian.org</email>.

<taglist>

<tag><tt>subscribe &lt;srcpackage&gt; [&lt;email&gt;]</tt>
<item>
  Subscribes <var>email</var> to communications related to the source package
  <var>srcpackage</var>. Sender address is used if the second argument is
  not present. If <var>srcpackage</var> is not a valid source package,
  you'll get a warning. However if it's a valid binary package, the PTS
  will subscribe you to the corresponding source package.

<tag><tt>unsubscribe &lt;srcpackage&gt; [&lt;email&gt;]</tt>
<item>
  Removes a previous subscription to the source package <var>srcpackage</var>
  using the specified email address or the sender address if the second
  argument is left out. 

<tag><tt>which [&lt;email&gt;]</tt>
<item>
  Lists all subscriptions for the sender or the email address optionally 
  specified.

<tag><tt>keyword [&lt;email&gt;]</tt>
<item>
  Tells you the keywords that you are accepting. Each mail sent through
  the Package Tracking System is associated to a keyword and you receive
  only the mails associated to keywords that you are accepting. Here is
  the list of available keywords:
  <list>
  <item><tt>bts</tt>: mails coming from the Debian Bug Tracking System
  <item><tt>bts-control</tt>: reply to mails sent to
        <email>control@bugs.debian.org</email>
  <item><tt>summary</tt>: automatic summary mails about the state of a package
  <item><tt>cvs</tt>: notification of CVS commits
  <item><tt>upload-source</tt>: announce of a new source upload that
        has been accepted
  <item><tt>upload-binary</tt>: announce of a new binary-only upload (porting)
  <item><tt>katie-other</tt>: other mails from ftpmasters
        (override disparity, etc.)
  <item><tt>default</tt>: all the other mails (those which aren't "automatic")
  </list>

<tag><tt>keyword &lt;srcpackage&gt; [&lt;email&gt;]</tt>
<item>
  Same as previous item but for the given source package since
  you may select a different set of keywords for each source package.

<tag><tt>keyword [&lt;email&gt;] {+|-|=} &lt;list of keywords&gt;</tt>
<item>
  Accept (+) or refuse (-) mails associated to the given keyword(s).
  Define the list (=) of accepted keywords.

<tag><tt>keyword &lt;srcpackage&gt; [&lt;email&gt;] {+|-|=} &lt;list of keywords&gt;</tt>
<item>
  Same as previous item but overrides the keywords list for the
  indicated source package.
  
<tag><tt>quit | thanks | --</tt>
<item>
  Stops processing commands. All following lines are ignored by
  the bot.
</taglist>

        <sect1 id="pts-mail-filtering">Filtering PTS mails
        <p>
Once you are subscribed to a package, you will get the mails sent to
<tt><var>srcpackage</var>@packages.qa.debian.org</tt>. Those mails
have special headers appended to let you filter them in a special
mailbox with <prgn>procmail</prgn>. The added headers are
<tt>X-Loop</tt>, <tt>X-PTS-Package</tt>, <tt>X-PTS-Keyword</tt> and
<tt>X-Unsubscribe</tt>.
        <p>
Here is an example of added headers for a source upload notification
on the <package>dpkg</package> package:
<example>
X-Loop: dpkg@&pts-host;
X-PTS-Package: dpkg
X-PTS-Keyword: upload-source
X-Unsubscribe: echo 'unsubscribe dpkg' | mail pts@qa.debian.org
</example>

        <sect1 id="pts-cvs-commit">Forwarding CVS commits in the PTS
        <p>
If you use a publicly accessible CVS repository for maintaining
your Debian package you may want to forward the commit notification
to the PTS so that the subscribers (possible co-maintainers) can
closely follow the package's evolution.
        <p>
It's very easy to setup. Once your CVS repository generates commit
notifications, you just have to make sure it sends a copy of those mails
to <tt><var>srcpackage</var>_cvs@&pts-host;</tt>. Only people who
accepts the <em>cvs</em> keyword will receive the notifications.


   <chapt id="pkgs">Managing Packages
        <p>
This chapter contains information related to creating, uploading,
maintaining, and porting packages.

    <sect id="upload">Package uploads

      <sect1>New packages
        <p>
If you want to create a new package for the Debian distribution, you
should first check the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="Work-Needing and
Prospective Packages (WNPP)"> list. Checking the WNPP list ensures that
no one is already working on packaging that software, and that effort is
not duplicated. Read the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages"> for
more information.
        <p>
Assuming no one else is already working on your prospective package,
you must then submit a bug report (<ref id="submit-bug">) against the
pseudo-package <package>wnpp</package> 
describing your plan to create a new package, including, but not
limiting yourself to, a description of the package, the license of the
prospective package and the current URL where it can be downloaded
from.
        <p>
You should set the subject of the bug to ``ITP: <var>foo</var>
-- <var>short description</var>'', substituting the name of the new
package for <var>foo</var>.  The severity of the bug report must be set
to <em>wishlist</em>. If you feel it's necessary, send a copy to
&email-debian-devel; by putting the address in the <tt>X-Debbugs-CC:</tt> header
of the message (no, don't use <tt>CC:</tt>, because that way the message's subject
won't indicate the bug number).
        <p>
Please include a <tt>Closes: bug#<var>nnnnn</var></tt> entry on the
changelog of the new package in order for the bug report to be
automatically closed once the new package is installed on the archive
(<ref id="upload-bugfix">).
        <p>
There are a number of reasons why we ask maintainers to announce their
intentions:
          <list compact>
            <item>
It helps the (potentially new) maintainer to tap into the experience
of people on the list, and lets them know if anyone else is working
on it already.
            <item>
It lets other people thinking about working on the package know that
there already is a volunteer, so efforts may be shared.
            <item>
It lets the rest of the maintainers know more about the package than
the one line description and the usual changelog entry ``Initial release''
that gets posted to <tt>debian-devel-changes</tt>.
            <item>
It is helpful to the people who live off unstable (and form our first
line of testers).  We should encourage these people.
            <item>
The announcements give maintainers and other interested parties a
better feel of what is going on, and what is new, in the project.
          </list>

      <sect1 id="changelog-entries">
        <heading>Adding an entry to <file>debian/changelog</file></heading>
          <p>
Changes that you make to the package need to be recorded in the
<file>debian/changelog</file>.  These changes should provide a concise
description of what was changed, why (if it's in doubt), and note if
any bugs were closed.  They also record when the package was
completed.  This file will be installed in
<file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.Debian.gz</file>, or
<file>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/changelog.gz</file> for native
packages.
          <p>
The <file>debian/changelog</file> file conforms to a certain structure,
with a number of different fields.  One field of note, the
<em>distribution</em>, is described in <ref id="upload-dist">.  More
information about the structure of this file can be found in
the Debian Policy section titled "<file>debian/changelog</file>".
          <p>
Changelog entries can be used to automatically close Debian bugs when
the package is installed into the archive.  See <ref
id="upload-bugfix">.
          <p>
It is conventional that the changelog entry notating of a package that
contains a new upstream version of the software looks like this:
<example>
  * new upstream version
</example>
          <p>
There are tools to help you create entries and finalize the
<file>changelog</file> for release &mdash; see <ref id="devscripts">
and <ref id="dpkg-dev-el">.



      <sect1 id="upload-checking">Checking the package prior to upload
          <p>
Before you upload your package, you should do basic testing on it.  At
a minimum, you should try the following activities (you'll need to
have an older version of the same Debian package around):
<list>
              <item>
Install the package and make sure the software works, or upgrade the
package from an older version to your new version if a Debian package
for it already exists.
              <item>
Run <prgn>lintian</prgn> over the package.  You can run
<prgn>lintian</prgn> as follows: <tt>lintian -v
<var>package-version</var>.changes</tt>. This will check the source
package as well as the binary package.  If you don't understand the
output that <prgn>lintian</prgn> generates, try adding the <tt>-i</tt>
switch, which will cause <prgn>lintian</prgn> to output a very verbose
description of the problem.
                <p>
Normally, a package should <em>not</em> be uploaded if it causes lintian
to emit errors (they will start with <tt>E</tt>).
                <p>
For more information on <prgn>lintian</prgn>, see <ref id="lintian">.
              <item>
Downgrade the package to the previous version (if one exists) &mdash; this
tests the <file>postrm</file> and <file>prerm</file> scripts.
              <item>
Remove the package, then reinstall it.
            </list>


      <sect1>Generating the changes file
          <p>
When a package is uploaded to the Debian FTP archive, it must be
accompanied by a <file>.changes</file> file, which gives directions to the
archive maintainers for its handling.  This is usually generated by
<prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> during the normal package build process.
          <p>
The changes file is a control file with the following fields:
          <p>
&control-file-fields;
          <p>
All of these fields are mandatory for a Debian upload.  See the list
of control fields in the <url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian
Policy Manual"> for the contents of these fields.  You can close bugs
automatically using the <tt>Description</tt> field, see <ref
id="upload-bugfix">.


        <sect2>The original source tarball
          <p>
The first time a version is uploaded which corresponds to a particular
upstream version, the original source tar file should be uploaded and
included in the <file>.changes</file> file.  Subsequently, this very same
tar file should be used to build the new diffs and <file>.dsc</file>
files, and will not need to be re-uploaded.
          <p>
By default, <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> will include the original source tar
file if and only if the Debian revision part of the source version
number is 0 or 1, indicating a new upstream version.  This behavior
may be modified by using <tt>-sa</tt> to always include it or
<tt>-sd</tt> to always leave it out.
          <p>
If no original source is included in the upload, the original
source tar-file used by <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when constructing the
<file>.dsc</file> file and diff to be uploaded <em>must</em> be
byte-for-byte identical with the one already in the archive.


        <sect2 id="upload-dist">Picking a distribution
          <p>
The <tt>Distribution</tt> field, which originates from the first line of
the <file>debian/changelog</file> file, indicates which distribution the
package is intended for.
          <p>
There are three possible values for this field: `stable', `unstable',
and `experimental'. Normally, packages are uploaded into
<em>unstable</em>.
          <p>
You should avoid combining `stable' with others because of potential
problems with library dependencies (for your package and for the package
built by the build daemons for other architecture).
See <ref id="upload-stable"> for more information on when and how to
upload to <em>stable</em>.
          <p>
It never makes sense to combine the <em>experimental</em> distribution
with anything else.

<!-- 
          <sect2 id="upload-frozen">Uploading to <em>frozen</em>
            <p>
The Debian freeze is a crucial time for Debian.  It is our chance to
synchronize and stabilize our distribution as a whole.  Therefore,
care must be taken when uploading to <em>frozen</em>.
            <p>
It is tempting to always try to get the newest release of software
into the release.  However, it's much more important that the system
as a whole is stable and works as expected.
            <p>
The watchword for uploading to <em>frozen</em> is <strong>no new
code</strong>.  This is a difficult thing to quantify, so here are
some guidelines:
            <p>
<list>
                <item>
Fixes for bugs of severity <em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em>, or
<em>serious</em> severity are always allowed for those packages that
must exist in the final release
                <item>
<em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em>, and <em>serious</em> bug fixes are
allowed for non-necessary packages but only if they don't add any new
features
                <item>
important, normal and minor bug fixes are allowed (though discouraged)
on all packages if and only if there are no new features
                <item>
wishlist fixes are not allowed (they are, after all, not really bugs)
                <item>
documentation bug fixes are allowed, since good documentation is
important
              </list>
            <p>
Experience has shown that there is statistically a 15% chance that
every bug fix will introduce a new bug.  The introduction and
discovery of new bugs either delays release or weakens the final
product.  There is little correlation between the severity of the
original bug fixed and the severity of the bug newly introduced by the
fix.

 -->


          <sect3 id="upload-stable">Uploading to <em>stable</em>
            <p>
Uploading to <em>stable</em> means that the package will be placed into the
<file>proposed-updates</file> directory of the Debian archive for further
testing before it is actually included in <em>stable</em>.
            <p>
Extra care should be taken when uploading to <em>stable</em>. Basically, a
package should only be uploaded to stable if one of the following happens:
<list>
        <item>a security problem (e.g. a Debian security advisory)
        <item>a truly critical functionality problem
        <item>the package becomes uninstallable
        <item>a released architecture lacks the package
</list>
            <p>
It is discouraged to change anything else in the package that isn't
important, because even trivial fixes can cause bugs later on. Uploading
new upstream versions to fix security problems is deprecated; applying the
specific patch from the new upstream version to the old one ("back-porting"
the patch) is the right thing to do in most cases.
            <p>
Packages uploaded to <em>stable</em> need to be compiled on systems running
<em>stable</em>, so that their dependencies are limited to the libraries
(and other packages) available in <em>stable</em>; for example, a package
uploaded to <em>stable</em> that depends on a library package that only
exists in unstable will be rejected. Making changes to dependencies of other
packages (by messing with <tt>Provides</tt> or shlibs files), possibly making
those other packages uninstallable, is strongly discouraged.
            <p>
The Release Team (which can be reached at &email-debian-release;) will
regularly evaluate the uploads in <em>proposed-updates</em> and decide if
your package can be included in <em>stable</em>. Please be clear (and
verbose, if necessary) in your changelog entries for uploads to
<em>stable</em>, because otherwise the package won't be considered for
inclusion.



      <sect1 id="uploading">Uploading a package

        <sect2 id="upload-ftp-master">Uploading to <tt>ftp-master</tt>
          <p>
To upload a package, you need a personal account on
<ftpsite>&ftp-master-host;</ftpsite>, which you should have as an
official maintainer. If you use <prgn>scp</prgn> or <prgn>rsync</prgn>
to transfer the files, place them into &us-upload-dir;;
if you use anonymous FTP to upload, place them into
&upload-queue;.  Please note that you should transfer
the changes file last.  Otherwise, your upload may be rejected because the
archive maintenance software will parse the changes file and see that not
all files have been uploaded.  If you don't want to bother with transferring
the changes file last, you can simply copy your files to a temporary
directory on <tt>ftp-master</tt> and then move them to
&us-upload-dir;.
          <p>
<em>Note:</em> Do not upload to <tt>ftp-master</tt> cryptographic
packages which belong to <em>contrib</em> or <em>non-free</em>. Uploads of
such software should go to <tt>non-us</tt> (see <ref
id="upload-non-us">). Furthermore packages containing code that is
patent-restricted by the United States government can not be uploaded to
<tt>ftp-master</tt>; depending on the case they may still be uploaded to
<file>non-US/non-free</file> (it's in non-free because of distribution issues
and not because of the license of the software). If you can't upload it to
<tt>ftp-master</tt>, then neither can you upload it to the overseas upload
queues on <tt>chiark</tt> or <tt>erlangen</tt>. If you are not sure
whether U.S. patent controls or cryptographic controls apply to your
package, post a message to &email-debian-devel; and ask.
          <p>
You may also find the Debian packages <ref id="dupload"> or
<ref id="dput"> useful
when uploading packages.  These handy programs help automate the
process of uploading packages into Debian.
          <p>
After uploading your package, you can check how the archive
maintenance software will process it by running <prgn>dinstall</prgn>
on your changes file: <example>dinstall -n foo.changes</example>.
Note that <prgn>dput</prgn> can do this for you automatically.

        <sect2 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>non-US</tt>
          <p>
As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded
to <tt>ftp-master</tt>.  Instead, upload the package to
<ftpsite>non-us.debian.org</ftpsite>, placing the files in
&non-us-upload-dir; (again, both <ref id="dupload"> and <ref
id="dput"> can do this for you if invoked properly). By default,
you can use the same account/password that works on
<tt>ftp-master</tt>.  If you use anonymous FTP to upload, place the
files into &upload-queue;.
          <p>
You can check your upload the same way it's done on <tt>ftp-master</tt>,
with:
<example>dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
          <p>
Note that U.S. residents or citizens are subject to restrictions on
export of cryptographic software. As of this writing, U.S. citizens
are allowed to export some cryptographic software, subject to
notification rules by the U.S. Department of Commerce.  However, this
restriction has been waived for software which is already available
outside the U.S.  Therefore, any cryptographic software which belongs
in the <em>main</em> section of the Debian archive and does not depend
on any package outside of <em>main</em> (e.g., does not depend on
anything in <em>non-US/main</em>) can be uploaded to <tt>ftp-master</tt>
or its queues, described above.
          <p>
Debian policy does not prevent upload to non-US by U.S. residents or
citizens, but care should be taken in doing so. It is recommended that
developers take all necessary steps to ensure that they are not
breaking current US law by doing an upload to non-US, <em>including
consulting a lawyer</em>.
          <p>
For packages in <em>non-US/main</em>, <em>non-US/contrib</em>,
developers should at least follow the <url id="&url-u.s.-export;"
name="procedure outlined by the US Government">.  Maintainers of
<em>non-US/non-free</em> packages should further consult the <url
id="&url-notification-of-export;" name="rules on notification of
export"> of non-free software.
          <p>
This section is for information only and does not constitute legal
advice. Again, it is strongly recommended that U.S. citizens and
residents consult a lawyer before doing uploads to non-US.


        <sect2>Uploads via <tt>chiark</tt>
          <p>
If you have a slow network connection to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, there are
alternatives.  One is to upload files to <file>Incoming</file> via a
upload queue in Europe on <tt>chiark</tt>. For details connect to
<url id="&url-chiark-readme;">.
          <p>
<em>Note:</em> Do not upload packages containing software that is
export-controlled by the United States government to the queue on
<tt>chiark</tt>.  Since this upload queue goes to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, the
prescription found in <ref id="upload-ftp-master"> applies here as well.
          <p>
The program <prgn>dupload</prgn> comes with support for uploading to
<tt>chiark</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with the
program for details.


        <sect2>Uploads via <tt>erlangen</tt>
          <p>
Another upload queue is available in Germany: just upload the files
via anonymous FTP to <url id="&url-upload-erlangen;">.
          <p>
The upload must be a complete Debian upload, as you would put it into
<tt>ftp-master</tt>'s <file>Incoming</file>, i.e., a <file>.changes</file> files
along with the other files mentioned in the <file>.changes</file>. The
queue daemon also checks that the <file>.changes</file> is correctly
signed with GnuPG or OpenPGP by a Debian developer, so that no bogus files can find
their way to <tt>ftp-master</tt> via this queue. Please also make sure that
the <tt>Maintainer</tt> field in the <file>.changes</file> contains
<em>your</em> e-mail address. The address found there is used for all
replies, just as on <tt>ftp-master</tt>.
          <p>
There's no need to move your files into a second directory after the
upload, as on <tt>chiark</tt>. And, in any case, you should get a
mail reply from the queue daemon explaining what happened to your
upload. Hopefully it should have been moved to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, but in
case of errors you're notified, too.
          <p>
<em>Note:</em> Do not upload packages containing software that is
export-controlled by the United States government to the queue on
<tt>erlangen</tt>.  Since this upload queue goes to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, the
prescription found in <ref id="upload-ftp-master"> applies here as well.
          <p>
The program <prgn>dupload</prgn> comes with support for uploading to
<tt>erlangen</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with
the program for details.


        <sect2>Other upload queues
          <p>
Another upload queue is available which is based in the US, and is a
good backup when there are problems reaching <tt>ftp-master</tt>.  You can
upload files, just as in <tt>erlangen</tt>, to <url
id="&url-upload-samosa;">.
          <p>
An upload queue is available in Japan: just upload the files via
anonymous FTP to <url id="&url-upload-jp;">.



      <sect1 id="upload-announce">Announcing package uploads
        <p>
When a package is uploaded, an announcement should be posted to one of
the ``debian-changes'' lists. This is now done automatically by the archive
maintenance software when it runs (usually once a day). You just need to use
a recent <package>dpkg-dev</package> (&gt;= 1.4.1.2). The mail generated by
the archive maintenance software will contain the OpenPGP/GnuPG signed 
<file>.changes</file> files that you uploaded with your package.
Previously, <prgn>dupload</prgn> used to send those announcements, so
please make sure that you configured your <prgn>dupload</prgn> not to
send those announcements (check its documentation and look for
``dinstall_runs'').
        <p>
If a package is released with the <tt>Distribution:</tt> set to
`stable', the announcement is sent to &email-debian-changes;.  If a
package is released with <tt>Distribution:</tt> set to `unstable',
or `experimental', the announcement will be
posted to &email-debian-devel-changes; instead.

      <sect1 id="upload-notification">
        <heading>Notification that a new package has been installed</heading>
        <p>
The Debian archive maintainers are responsible for handling package
uploads.  For the most part, uploads are automatically handled on a
daily basis by the archive maintenance tools, <prgn>katie</prgn>.
Specifically, updates to existing packages to
the `unstable' distribution are handled automatically. In other cases,
notably new packages, placing the uploaded package into the
distribution is handled manually. When uploads are handled manually,
the change to the archive may take up to a month to occur. Please be
patient.
        <p>
In any case, you will receive an email notification indicating that the
package has been added to the archive, which also indicates which bugs will
be closed by the upload.  Please examine this notification carefully,
checking if any bugs you meant to close didn't get triggered.
        <p>
The installation notification also includes information on what
section the package was inserted into.  If there is a disparity, you
will receive a separate email notifying you of that.  Read on below.

        <sect2 id="override-file">The override file
          <p>
The <file>debian/control</file> file's <tt>Section</tt> and
<tt>Priority</tt> fields do not actually specify where the file will
be placed in the archive, nor its priority.  In order to retain the
overall integrity of the archive, it is the archive maintainers who
have control over these fields.  The values in the
<file>debian/control</file> file are actually just hints.
          <p>
The archive maintainers keep track of the canonical sections and
priorities for packages in the <em>override file</em>.  If there is a
disparity between the <em>override file</em> and the package's fields
as indicated in <file>debian/control</file>, then you will receive an
email noting the divergence when the package is installed into the
archive.  You can either correct your <file>debian/control</file> file
for your next upload, or else you may wish to make a change in the
<em>override file</em>.
          <p>
To alter the actual section that a package is put in, you need to
first make sure that the <file>debian/control</file> in your package
is accurate.  Next, send an email &email-override; or submit a bug
against <package>ftp.debian.org</package> requesting that the section
or priority for your package be changed from the old section or
priority to the new one.  Be sure to explain your reasoning.
          <p>
For more information about <em>override files</em>, see <manref
name="dpkg-scanpackages" section="8">, &file-bts-mailing;, and
&file-bts-info;.



    <sect id="nmu">Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)
      <p>
Under certain circumstances it is necessary for someone other than the
official package maintainer to make a release of a package.  This is
called a non-maintainer upload, or NMU.
       <p>
Debian porters, who compile packages for different architectures,
occasionally do binary-only NMUs as part of their porting activity
(see <ref id="porting">).  Another reason why NMUs are done is when a
Debian developers needs to fix another developers' packages in order to
address serious security problems or crippling bugs, especially during
the freeze, or when the package maintainer is unable to release a fix
in a timely fashion.
      <p>
This chapter contains information providing guidelines for when and
how NMUs should be done.  A fundamental distinction is made between
source and binary-only NMUs, which is explained in the next section.

      <sect1 id="nmu-terms">Terminology
        <p>
There are two new terms used throughout this section: ``binary-only NMU''
and ``source NMU''.  These terms are used with specific technical
meaning throughout this document.  Both binary-only and source NMUs are
similar, since they involve an upload of a package by a developer who
is not the official maintainer of that package.  That is why it's a
<em>non-maintainer</em> upload.
        <p>
A source NMU is an upload of a package by a developer who is not the
official maintainer, for the purposes of fixing a bug in the package.
Source NMUs always involves changes to the source (even if it is just
a change to <file>debian/changelog</file>).  This can be either a
change to the upstream source, or a change to the Debian bits of the
source.  Note, however, that source NMUs may also include
architecture-dependent packages, as well as an updated Debian diff.
        <p>
A binary-only NMU is a recompilation and upload of a binary package
for a given architecture.  As such, it is usually part of a porting
effort.  A binary-only NMU is a non-maintainer uploaded binary version
of a package, with no source changes required.  There are many cases
where porters must fix problems in the source in order to get them to
compile for their target architecture; that would be considered a
source NMU rather than a binary-only NMU.  As you can see, we don't
distinguish in terminology between porter NMUs and non-porter NMUs.
        <p>
Both classes of NMUs, source and binary-only, can be lumped by the
term ``NMU''.  However, this often leads to confusion, since most
people think ``source NMU'' when they think ``NMU''.  So it's best to
be careful.  In this chapter, if we use the unqualified term ``NMU'',
we refer to any type of non-maintainer upload NMUs, whether source and
binary, or binary-only.


      <sect1 id="nmu-who">Who can do an NMU
        <p>
Only official, registered Debian maintainers can do binary or source
NMUs.  An official maintainer is someone who has their key in the
Debian key ring.  Non-developers, however, are encouraged to download
the source package and start hacking on it to fix problems; however,
rather than doing an NMU, they should just submit worthwhile patches
to the Bug Tracking System.  Maintainers almost always appreciate
quality patches and bug reports.


      <sect1 id="nmu-when">When to do a source NMU
        <p>
Guidelines for when to do a source NMU depend on the target
distribution, i.e., stable, unstable, or experimental.  Porters have
slightly different rules than non-porters, due to their unique
circumstances (see <ref id="source-nmu-when-porter">).
        <p>
When a security bug is detected, a fixed package should be uploaded
as soon as possible. In this case, the Debian security officers get in
contact with the package maintainer to make sure a fixed package is
uploaded within a reasonable time (less than 48 hours). If the package
maintainer cannot provide a fixed package fast enough or if he/she
cannot be reached in time, a security officer may upload a fixed
package (i.e., do a source NMU).
        <p>
During the release cycle (see <ref id="sec-dists">), NMUs which fix
serious or higher severity bugs are encouraged and accepted.  Even
during this window, however, you should endeavor to reach the current
maintainer of the package; they might be just about to upload a fix
for the problem.  As with any source NMU, the guidelines found in <ref
id="nmu-guidelines"> need to be followed.
        <p>
Uploading bug fixes to unstable by non-maintainers should only be done
by following this protocol:
        <p>
<list>
            <item>
Make sure that the package's bugs that the NMU is meant to address are all
filed in the Debian Bug Tracking System (BTS).
If they are not, submit them immediately.
            <item>
Wait a few days the response from the maintainer. If you don't get
any response, you may want to help him by sending the patch that fixes
the bug. Don't forget to tag the bug with the "patch" keyword.
            <item>
Wait a few more days. If you still haven't got an answer from the
maintainer, send him a mail announcing your intent to NMU the package.
Prepare an NMU as described in <ref id="nmu-guidelines">, test it
carefully on your machine (cf. <ref id="upload-checking">).
Double check that your patch doesn't have any unexpected side effects.
Make sure your patch is as small and as non-disruptive as it can be.  
            <item>
Upload your package to incoming in <file>DELAYED/7-day</file> (cf.
<ref id="delayed-incoming">), send the final patch to the maintainer via
the BTS, and explain to them that they have 7 days to react if they want
to cancel the NMU.
            <item>
Follow what happens, you're responsible for any bug that you introduced
with your NMU. You should probably use <ref id="pkg-tracking-system"> (PTS)
to stay informed of the state of the package after your NMU.
</list>
        <p>
At times, the release manager or an organized group of developers can
announce a certain period of time in which the NMU rules are relaxed.
This usually involves shortening the period during which one is to wait
before uploading the fixes, and shortening the DELAYED period. It is
important to notice that even in these so-called "bug squashing party"
times, the NMUer has to file bugs and contact the developer first,
and act later.

      <sect1 id="nmu-guidelines">How to do a source NMU
        <p>
The following applies to porters insofar as they are playing the dual
role of being both package bug-fixers and package porters.  If a
porter has to change the Debian source archive, automatically their
upload is a source NMU and is subject to its rules.  If a porter is
simply uploading a recompiled binary package, the rules are different;
see <ref id="porter-guidelines">.
        <p>
First and foremost, it is critical that NMU patches to source should
be as non-disruptive as possible.  Do not do housekeeping tasks, do
not change the name of modules or files, do not move directories; in
general, do not fix things which are not broken.  Keep the patch as
small as possible.  If things bother you aesthetically, talk to the
Debian maintainer, talk to the upstream maintainer, or submit a bug.
However, aesthetic changes must <em>not</em> be made in a non-maintainer
upload.


        <sect2 id="nmu-version">Source NMU version numbering
          <p>
Whenever you have made a change to a package, no matter how trivial,
the version number needs to change.  This enables our packing system
to function.
          <p>
If you are doing a non-maintainer upload (NMU), you should add a new
minor version number to the <var>debian-revision</var> part of the
version number (the portion after the last hyphen).  This extra minor
number will start at `1'.  For example, consider the package `foo',
which is at version 1.1-3.  In the archive, the source package control
file would be <file>foo_1.1-3.dsc</file>.  The upstream version is
`1.1' and the Debian revision is `3'.  The next NMU would add a new
minor number `.1' to the Debian revision; the new source control file
would be <file>foo_1.1-3.1.dsc</file>.
          <p>
The Debian revision minor number is needed to avoid stealing one of
the package maintainer's version numbers, which might disrupt their
work.  It also has the benefit of making it visually clear that a
package in the archive was not made by the official maintainer.
          <p>
If there is no <var>debian-revision</var> component in the version
number then one should be created, starting at `0.1'.  If it is
absolutely necessary for someone other than the usual maintainer to
make a release based on a new upstream version then the person making
the release should start with the <var>debian-revision</var> value
`0.1'.  The usual maintainer of a package should start their
<var>debian-revision</var> numbering at `1'. 


        <sect2 id="nmu-changelog">
          <heading>Source NMUs must have a new changelog entry</heading>
          <p>
A non-maintainer doing a source NMU must create a changelog entry,
describing which bugs are fixed by the NMU, and generally why the NMU
was required and what it fixed.  The changelog entry will have the
non-maintainer's email address in the log entry and the NMU version
number in it.
          <p>
By convention, source NMU changelog entries start with the line
<example>
  * Non-maintainer upload
</example>


        <sect2 id="nmu-patch">Source NMUs and the Bug Tracking System
          <p>
Maintainers other than the official package maintainer should make as
few changes to the package as possible, and they should always send a
patch as a unified context diff (<tt>diff -u</tt>) detailing their
changes to the Bug Tracking System.
          <p>
What if you are simply recompiling the package? If you just need to
recompile it for a single architecture, then you may do a binary-only
NMU as described in <ref id="binary-only-nmu"> which doesn't require any
patch to be sent. If you want the package to be recompiled for all
architectures, then you do a source NMU as usual and you will have to
send a patch.
          <p>
If the source NMU (non-maintainer upload) fixes some existing bugs,
these bugs should be tagged <em>fixed</em> in the Bug Tracking
System rather than closed.  By convention, only the official package
maintainer or the original bug submitter are allowed to close bugs.
Fortunately, Debian's archive system recognizes NMUs and thus marks
the bugs fixed in the NMU appropriately if the person doing the NMU
has listed all bugs in the changelog with the <tt>Closes:
bug#<var>nnnnn</var></tt> syntax (see <ref id="upload-bugfix"> for
more information describing how to close bugs via the changelog).
Tagging the bugs <em>fixed</em> ensures that everyone knows that the
bug was fixed in an NMU; however the bug is left open until the
changes in the NMU are incorporated officially into the package by
the official package maintainer.
          <p>
Also, after doing an NMU, you have to open a new bug and include a
patch showing all the changes you have made. Alternatively you can send
that information to the existing bugs that are fixed by your NMU.
The normal maintainer will either apply the patch or employ an alternate
method of fixing the problem.  Sometimes bugs are fixed independently
upstream, which is another good reason to back out an NMU's patch.
If the maintainer decides not to apply the NMU's patch but to release a
new version, the maintainer needs to ensure that the new upstream version
really fixes each problem that was fixed in the non-maintainer release.
          <p>
In addition, the normal maintainer should <em>always</em> retain the
entry in the changelog file documenting the non-maintainer upload.


        <sect2 id="nmu-build">Building source NMUs
          <p>
Source NMU packages are built normally.  Pick a distribution using the
same rules as found in <ref id="upload-dist">.  Just as described in
<ref id="uploading">, a normal changes file, etc., will be built.  In
fact, all the prescriptions from <ref id="upload"> apply.
          <p>
Make sure you do <em>not</em> change the value of the maintainer in
the <file>debian/control</file> file.  Your name as given in the NMU entry of
the <file>debian/changelog</file> file will be used for signing the
changes file.

      <sect1 id="ack-nmu">Acknowledging an NMU
        <p>
If one of your packages has been NMUed, you have to incorporate the
changes in your copy of the sources. This is easy, you just have
to apply the patch that has been sent to you. Once this is done, you
have to close the bugs that have been tagged fixed by the NMU. You
can either close them manually by sending the required mails to the
BTS or by adding the required <tt>closes: #nnnn</tt> in the changelog
entry of your next upload.
        <p>
In any case, you should not be upset by the NMU. An NMU is not a
personal attack against the maintainer. It is a proof that
someone cares enough about the package and that they were willing to help
you in your work, so you should be thankful. You may also want to
ask them if they would be interested to help you on a more frequent
basis as co-maintainer or backup maintainer
(see <ref id="collaborative-maint">).


    <sect id="porting">Porting and Being Ported
      <p>
Debian supports an ever-increasing number of architectures.  Even if
you are not a porter, and you don't use any architecture but one, it
is part of your duty as a maintainer to be aware of issues of
portability.  Therefore, even if you are not a porter, you should read
most of this chapter.
      <p>
Porting is the act of building Debian packages for architectures that
is different from the original architecture of the package
maintainer's binary package.  It is a unique and essential activity.
In fact, porters do most of the actual compiling of Debian packages.
For instance, for a single <em>i386</em> binary package, there must be
a recompile for each architecture, which amounts to
&number-of-arches; more builds.


      <sect1 id="kind-to-porters">Being kind to porters
        <p>
Porters have a difficult and unique task, since they are required to
deal with a large volume of packages.  Ideally, every source package
should build right out of the box.  Unfortunately, this is often not
the case.  This section contains a checklist of ``gotchas'' often
committed by Debian maintainers &mdash; common problems which often stymie
porters, and make their jobs unnecessarily difficult.
        <p>
The first and most important watchword is to respond quickly to bug or
issues raised by porters.  Please treat porters with courtesy, as if
they were in fact co-maintainers of your package (which in a way, they
are).  Please be tolerant of succinct or even unclear bug reports,
doing your best to hunt down whatever the problem is.
        <p>
By far, most of the problems encountered by porters are caused by
<em>packaging bugs</em> in the source packages.  Here is a checklist
of things you should check or be aware of.

<enumlist>
            <item>
Make sure that your <tt>Build-Depends</tt> and
<tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt> settings in <file>debian/control</file>
are set properly.  The best way to validate this is to use the
<package>debootstrap</package> package to create an unstable chroot
environment.  Within that chrooted environment, install the
<package>build-essential</package> package and any package
dependencies mentioned in <tt>Build-Depends</tt> and/or
<tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>.  Finally, try building your package
within that chrooted environment.  These steps can be automated
by the use of the <prgn>pbuilder</prgn> program which is provided by
the package of the same name.
                <p>
See the <url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy
Manual"> for instructions on setting build dependencies.
            <item>
Don't set architecture to a value other than ``all'' or ``any'' unless
you really mean it.  In too many cases, maintainers don't follow the
instructions in the <url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy
Manual">.  Setting your architecture to ``i386'' is usually incorrect.
            <item>
Make sure your source package is correct.  Do <tt>dpkg-source -x
<var>package</var>.dsc</tt> to make sure your source package unpacks
properly.  Then, in there, try building your package from scratch with
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>.
            <item>
Make sure you don't ship your source package with the
<file>debian/files</file> or <file>debian/substvars</file> files.
They should be removed by the `clean' target of
<file>debian/rules</file>.
            <item>
Make sure you don't rely on locally installed or hacked configurations
or programs.  For instance, you should never be calling programs in
<file>/usr/local/bin</file> or the like.  Try not to rely on programs
be setup in a special way.  Try building your package on another
machine, even if it's the same architecture.
            <item>
Don't depend on the package you're building already being installed (a
sub-case of the above issue).
            <item>
Don't rely on the compiler being a certain version, if possible.  If
not, then make sure your build dependencies reflect the restrictions,
although you are probably asking for trouble, since different
architectures sometimes standardize on different compilers.
            <item>
Make sure your debian/rules contains separate ``binary-arch'' and
``binary-indep'' targets, as the Debian Policy Manual requires.
Make sure that both targets work independently, that is, that you can
call the target without having called the other before. To test this,
try to run <tt>dpkg-buildpackage -b</tt>.
          </enumlist>


      <sect1 id="porter-guidelines">Guidelines for porter uploads
        <p>
If the package builds out of the box for the architecture to be ported
to, you are in luck and your job is easy.  This section applies to
that case; it describes how to build and upload your binary package so
that it is properly installed into the archive.  If you do have to
patch the package in order to get it to compile for the other
architecture, you are actually doing a source NMU, so consult <ref
id="nmu-guidelines"> instead.
        <p>
For a porter upload, no changes are being made to the source.  You do
not need to touch any of the files in the source package.  This
includes <file>debian/changelog</file>.
        <p>
The way to invoke <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> is as
<tt>dpkg-buildpackage -B -m<var>porter-email</var></tt>.  Of course,
set <var>porter-email</var> to your email address.  This will do a
binary-only build of only the architecture-dependent portions of the
package, using the `binary-arch' target in <file>debian/rules</file>.

        <sect2 id="binary-only-nmu">
          <heading>Recompilation or binary-only NMU</heading>
        <p>
Sometimes the initial porter upload is problematic because the environment
in which the package was built was not good enough (outdated or obsolete
library, bad compiler, ...). Then you may just need to recompile it in
an updated environment. However, you have to bump the version number in
this case, so that the old bad package can be replaced in the Debian archive
(<prgn>katie</prgn> refuses to install new packages if they don't have a
version number greater than the currently available one).  Despite the
required modification of the changelog, these are called binary-only NMUs
&mdash; there is no need in this case to trigger all other architectures
to consider themselves out of date or requiring recompilation.
        <p>
Such recompilations require special ``magic'' version numbering, so that
the archive maintenance tools recognize that, even though there is a
new Debian version, there is no corresponding source update.  If you
get this wrong, the archive maintainers will reject your upload (due
to lack of corresponding source code).
        <p>
The ``magic'' for a recompilation-only NMU is triggered by using the
third-level number on the Debian part of the version.  For instance,
if the latest version you are recompiling against was version
``2.9-3'', your NMU should carry a version of ``2.9-3.0.1''.  If the
latest version was ``3.4-2.1'', your NMU should have a version number
of ``3.4-2.1.1''.


        <sect2 id="source-nmu-when-porter">
          <heading>When to do a source NMU if you are a porter</heading>
          <p>
Porters doing a source NMU generally follow the guidelines found in
<ref id="nmu">, just like non-porters.  However, it is expected that
the wait cycle for a porter's source NMU is smaller than for a
non-porter, since porters have to cope with a large quantity of
packages.
Again, the situation varies depending on the distribution they are
uploading to.

<!-- 
FIXME: commented out until I can work out how to upload to testing directly

  Crucial fixes (i.e., changes need to get a source
package to compile for a released-targeted architecture) can be
uploaded with <em>no</em> waiting period for the `frozen' distribution.
 -->
          <p>
However, if you are a porter doing an NMU for `unstable', the above
guidelines for porting should be followed, with two variations.
Firstly, the acceptable waiting period &mdash; the time between when the
bug is submitted to the BTS and when it is OK to do an NMU &mdash; is seven
days for porters working on the unstable distribution.  This period
can be shortened if the problem is critical and imposes hardship on
the porting effort, at the discretion of the porter group.  (Remember,
none of this is Policy, just mutually agreed upon guidelines.)
          <p>
Secondly, porters doing source NMUs should make sure that the bug they
submit to the BTS should be of severity `serious' or greater.  This
ensures that a single source package can be used to compile every
supported Debian architecture by release time.  It is very important
that we have one version of the binary and source package for all
architecture in order to comply with many licenses.
          <p>
Porters should try to avoid patches which simply kludge around bugs in
the current version of the compile environment, kernel, or libc.
Sometimes such kludges can't be helped.  If you have to kludge around
compilers bugs and the like, make sure you <tt>#ifdef</tt> your work
properly; also, document your kludge so that people know to remove it
once the external problems have been fixed.
          <p>
Porters may also have an unofficial location where they can put the
results of their work during the waiting period.  This helps others
running the port have the benefit of the porter's work, even during
the waiting period.  Of course, such locations have no official
blessing or status, so buyer, beware.


      <sect1>Tools for porters
        <p>
There are several tools available for the porting effort. This section
contains a brief introduction to these tools; see the package
documentation or references for full information.


        <sect2 id="quinn-diff">
          <heading><package>quinn-diff</package>
          <p>
<package>quinn-diff</package> is used to locate the differences from
one architecture to another.  For instance, it could tell you which
packages need to be ported for architecture <var>Y</var>, based on
architecture <var>X</var>.


        <sect2 id="buildd">
          <heading><package>buildd</package>
          <p>
The <package>buildd</package> system is used as a distributed,
client-server build distribution system.  It is usually used in
conjunction with <em>auto-builders</em>, which are ``slave'' hosts
which simply check out and attempt to auto-build packages which need
to be ported.  There is also an email interface to the system, which
allows porters to ``check out'' a source package (usually one which
cannot yet be auto-built) and work on it.
          <p>
<package>buildd</package> is not yet available as a package; however,
most porting efforts are either using it currently or planning to use
it in the near future.  It collects a number of as yet unpackaged
components which are currently very useful and in use continually,
such as <prgn>andrea</prgn>, <prgn>sbuild</prgn> and
<prgn>wanna-build</prgn>.
          <p>
Some of the data produced by <package>buildd</package> which is
generally useful to porters is available on the web at <url
id="&url-buildd;">.  This data includes nightly updated information
from <prgn>andrea</prgn> (source dependencies) and
<package>quinn-diff</package> (packages needing recompilation).
          <p>
We are very excited about this system, since it potentially has so
many uses.  Independent development groups can use the system for
different sub-flavors of Debian, which may or may not really be of
general interest (for instance, a flavor of Debian built with gcc
bounds checking).  It will also enable Debian to recompile entire
distributions quickly.


        <sect2 id="dpkg-cross">
          <heading><package>dpkg-cross</package>
          <p>
<package>dpkg-cross</package> is a tool for installing libraries and
headers for cross-compiling in a way similar to
<package>dpkg</package>. Furthermore, the functionality of
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> and <prgn>dpkg-shlibdeps</prgn> is
enhanced to support cross-compiling.


    <sect id="collaborative-maint">
        <heading>Collaborative maintenance</heading>
        <p>
"Collaborative maintenance" is a term describing the sharing of Debian
package maintenance duties by several people.  This collaboration is
almost a good idea, since it generally results in higher quality and
faster bug fix turnaround time.  It is strongly recommended that
packages in which a priority of <tt>Standard</tt> or which are part of
the base set have co-maintainers.</p>
        <p>
Generally there is a primary maintainer and one or more
co-maintainers.  The primary maintainer is the whose name is listed in
the <tt>Maintainer</tt> field of the <file>debian/control</file> file.
Co-maintainers are all the other maintainers.</p>
        <p>
In its most basic form, the process of adding a new co-maintainer is
quite easy:<list>
            <item>
              <p>
Setup the co-maintainer with access to the sources you build the
package from.  Generally this implies you are using a network-capable
version control system, such as <prgn>CVS</prgn> or
<prgn>Subversion</prgn>.</p>
            </item>
            <item>
              <p>
Add the co-maintainer's correct maintainer name and address to the
<tt>Uploaders</tt> field in the global part of the
<file>debian/control</file> file.</p>
            </item>
            <item>
              <p>
Using the PTS (<ref id="pkg-tracking-system">), the co-maintainers
should subscribe themselves to the appropriate source package.</p>
            </item>
          </list></p>
      </sect>

    <sect id="archive-manip">
      <heading>Moving, Removing, Renaming, Adopting, and Orphaning
      Packages</heading>
      <p>
Some archive manipulation operations are not automated in the Debian
upload process.  These procedures should be manually followed by
maintainers.  This chapter gives guidelines in what to do in these
cases.

      <sect1 id="moving-pkgs">Moving packages
        <p>
Sometimes a package will change its section.  For instance, a
package from the `non-free' section might be GPL'd in a later version,
in which case, the package should be moved to `main' or
`contrib'.<footnote> See the <url id="&url-debian-policy;"
name="Debian Policy Manual"> for guidelines on what section a package
belongs in.
          </footnote>
        <p>
If you need to change the section for one of your packages, change the
package control information to place the package in the desired
section, and re-upload the package (see the <url id="&url-debian-policy;"
name="Debian Policy Manual"> for details). If your new section is
valid, it will be moved automatically. If it does not, then contact
the ftpmasters in order to understand what happened.
        <p>
If, on the other hand, you need to change the <em>subsection</em> of
one of your packages (e.g., ``devel'', ``admin''), the procedure is
slightly different.  Correct the subsection as found in the control
file of the package, and re-upload that.  Also, you'll need to get the
override file updated, as described in <ref id="override-file">.


      <sect1 id="removing-pkgs">Removing packages
        <p>
If for some reason you want to completely remove a package (say, if it
is an old compatibility library which is no longer required), you
need to file a bug against <tt>ftp.debian.org</tt> asking that the
package be removed.  Make sure you indicate which distribution the
package should be removed from. Normally, you can only have packages
removed from <em>unstable</em> and <em>experimental</em>.  Packages
are not removed from <em>testing</em> directly. Rather, they will be
removed automatically after the package has been removed from
<em>unstable</em> and no package in <em>testing</em> depends on it.
        <p>
You also have to detail the reasons justifying that request. This is to
avoid unwanted removals and to keep a trace of why a package has been
removed. For example, you can provide the name of the package that
supersedes the one to be removed.
        <p>
Usually you only ask the removal of a package maintained by yourself.
If you want to remove another package, you have to get the approval
of its last maintainer.
        <p>
If in doubt concerning whether a package is disposable, email
&email-debian-devel; asking for opinions.  Also of interest is the
<prgn>apt-cache</prgn> program from the <package>apt</package>
package.  When invoked as <tt>apt-cache showpkg
<var>package</var></tt>, the program will show details for
<var>package</var>, including reverse depends.
        <p>
Once the package has been removed, the package's bugs should be handled.
They should either be reassigned to another package in the case where
the actual code has evolved into another package (e.g. <tt>libfoo12</tt>
was removed because <tt>libfoo13</tt> supersedes it) or closed if the
software is simply no more part of Debian.

        <sect2>Removing packages from <file>Incoming</file>
          <p>
In the past, it was possible to remove packages from <file>incoming</file>.
However, with the introduction of the new incoming system, this is no longer
possible.  Instead, you have to upload a new revision of your package with
a higher version as the package you want to replace.  Both versions will be
installed in the archive but only the higher version will actually be
available in <em>unstable</em> since the previous version will immediately
be replaced by the higher.  However, if you do proper testing of your
packages, the need to replace a package should not occur too often anyway.

      <sect1>Replacing or renaming packages
        <p>
Sometimes you made a mistake naming the package and you need to rename
it.  In this case, you need to follow a two-step process.  First, set
your <file>debian/control</file> file to replace and conflict with the
obsolete name of the package (see the <url id="&url-debian-policy;"
name="Debian Policy Manual"> for details).  Once you've uploaded
that package, and the package has moved into the archive, file a bug
against <tt>ftp.debian.org</tt> asking to remove the package with the
obsolete name. Do not forget to properly reassign the package's bugs
at the same time.

      <sect1 id="orphaning">Orphaning a package
        <p>
If you can no longer maintain a package, you need to inform the others
about that, and see that the package is marked as orphaned.
You should set the package maintainer to <tt>Debian QA Group
&orphan-address;</tt> and submit a bug report
against the pseudo package <package>wnpp</package>.  The bug report should be
titled <tt>O: <var>package</var> -- <var>short description</var></tt>
indicating that the package is now orphaned.  The severity of the bug
should be set to <em>normal</em>. If you feel it's necessary, send a copy
to &email-debian-devel; by putting the address in the X-Debbugs-CC: header
of the message (no, don't use CC:, because that way the message's subject
won't indicate the bug number).
        <p>
If the package is especially crucial to Debian, you should instead submit
a bug against <package>wnpp</package> and title it <tt>RFA: <var>package</var> --
<var>short description</var></tt> and set its severity to
<em>important</em>. <tt>RFA</tt> stands for <em>Request For Adoption</em>.
Definitely copy the message to debian-devel in this case, as described
above.
        <p>
Read instructions on the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages">
for more information.

      <sect1 id="adopting">Adopting a package
        <p>
A list of packages in need of a new maintainer is available at in the
<url name="Work-Needing and Prospective Packages list (WNPP)"
id="&url-wnpp;">. If you wish to take over maintenance of any of the
packages listed in the WNPP, please take a look at the aforementioned
page for information and procedures.
        <p>
It is not OK to simply take over a package that you feel is neglected
&mdash; that would be package hijacking.  You can, of course, contact the
current maintainer and ask them if you may take over the package.
However, without their assent, you may not take over the package.
Even if they ignore you, that is still not grounds to take over a
package.  If you really feel that a maintainer has gone AWOL (absent
without leave), post a query to &email-debian-private;. You may also
inform the QA group (cf. <ref id="mia-qa">).
        <p>
If you take over an old package, you probably want to be listed as the
package's official maintainer in the bug system. This will happen
automatically once you upload a new version with an updated
<tt>Maintainer:</tt> field, although it can take a few hours after the
upload is done. If you do not expect to upload a new version for a while,
you can use <ref id="pkg-tracking-system"> to get the bug reports. However,
make sure that the old maintainer has no problem with the fact that
they will continue to receive the bugs during that time.


    <sect id="bug-handling">Handling package bugs
        <p>
Often as a package maintainer, you find bugs in other packages or else
have bugs reported to your packages which need to be reassigned.  The
<url id="&url-bts-control;" name="BTS instructions"> can tell you how
to do this.  Some information on filing bugs can be found in <ref
id="submit-bug">.

      <sect1>Monitoring bugs
        <p>
If you want to be a good maintainer, you should periodically check the
<url id="&url-bts;" name="Debian bug tracking system (BTS)"> for your
packages.  The BTS contains all the open bugs against your packages.
You can check them by browsing this page:
<tt>http://&bugs-host;/<var>yourlogin</var>@debian.org</tt>.
        <p>
Maintainers interact with the BTS via email addresses at
<tt>&bugs-host;</tt>.  Documentation on available commands can be
found at <url id="&url-bts;">, or, if you have installed the
<package>doc-debian</package> package, you can look at the local files
&file-bts-docs;.
        <p>
Some find it useful to get periodic reports on open bugs.  You can add
a cron job such as the following if you want to get a weekly email
outlining all the open bugs against your packages:
<example>
# ask for weekly reports of bugs in my packages
&cron-bug-report;
</example>
Replace <var>address</var> with your official Debian
maintainer address.

      <sect1 id="bug-answering">Responding to bugs
        <p>
Make sure that any discussion you have about bugs are sent both to
the original submitter of the bug, and the bug itself (e.g.,
<email>123@bugs.debian.org</email>). If you're writing a new
mail and you don't remember the submitter email address, you can
use the <email>123-submitter@bugs.debian.org</email> email to
contact the submitter <em>and</em> to record your mail within the
bug log (that means you don't need to send a copy of the mail to
<email>123@bugs.debian.org</email>).
        <p>
You should <em>never</em> close bugs via the bug server <tt>close</tt>
command sent to &email-bts-control;.  If you do so, the original
submitter will not receive any information about why the bug was
closed.

      <sect1 id="bug-housekeeping">Bug housekeeping
        <p>
As a package maintainer, you will often find bugs in other packages or
have bugs reported against your packages which are actually bugs in
other packages.  The <url id="&url-bts-control;" name="BTS
instructions"> document the technical operations of the BTS, such as
how to file, reassign, merge, and tag bugs.  This section contains
some guidelines for managing your own bugs, based on the collective
Debian developer experience.
        <p>
Filing bugs for problems that  you find in other packages is one of
the "civic obligations" of maintainership, see <ref id="submit-bug">
for details. However handling the bugs on your own packages is
even more important.
        <p>
Here's a list of steps that you may follow to handle a bug report:
<enumlist>
    <item>
Decide whether the report corresponds to a real bug or not. Sometimes
users are just calling a program in the wrong way because they haven't
read the documentation. If you diagnose this, just close the bug with
enough information to let the user correct his problem (give pointers
to the good documentation and so on). If the same report comes up
again and again you may ask yourself if the documentation is good
enough or if the program shouldn't detect its misuse in order to
give an informative error message. This is an issue that may need
to be brought to the upstream author.
    <p>
If the bug submitter disagree with your decision to close the bug,
they may reopen it until you find an agreement on how to handle it.
If you don't find any, you may want to tag the bug <tt>wontfix</tt>
to let people know that the bug exists but that it won't be corrected.
If this situation is unacceptable, you (or the submitter) may want to
require a decision of the technical committee by reassigning the bug
to <package>tech-ctte</package> (you may use the clone command of
the BTS if you wish to keep it reported against your package).
<!-- FIXME: Follow the procedure described at 
     tech-ctte-url (there's no such url yet). -->
    <item>
If the bug is real but it's caused by another package, just reassign
the bug the right package. If you don't know which package it should
be reassigned to, you may either ask for help on &email-debian-devel; or
reassign it to <package>debian-policy</package> to let them decide which
package is in fault.
    <p>
Sometimes you also have to adjust the severity of the bug so that it
matches our definition of the severity. That's because people tend to
inflate the severity of bugs to make sure their bugs are fixed quickly.
Some bugs may even be dropped to wishlist severity when the requested
change is just cosmetic.
    <item>
The bug submitter may have forgotten to provide some information, in that
case you have to ask him the information required. You may use the
<tt>moreinfo</tt> tag to mark the bug as such. Moreover if you can't
reproduce the bug, you tag it <tt>unreproducible</tt>. Anyone who
can reproduce the bug is then invited to provide more information
on how to reproduce it. After a few months, if this information has not
been sent by someone, the bug may be closed.
    <item>
If the bug is related to the packaging, you just fix it. If you are not
able to fix it yourself, then tag the bug as <tt>help</tt>. You can
also ask for help on &email-debian-devel; or &email-debian-qa;. If it's an
upstream problem, you have to forward it to the upstream author.
Forwarding a bug is not enough, you have to check at each release if
the bug has been fixed or not. If it has, you just close it, otherwise
you have to remind the author about it. If you have the required skills
you can prepare a patch that fixes the bug and that you send at the
same time to the author. Make sure to send the patch in the BTS and to
tag the bug as <tt>patch</tt>.
    <item>
If you have fixed a bug in your local copy, or if a fix has been
committed to the CVS repository, you may tag the bug as
<tt>pending</tt> to let people know that the bug is corrected and that
it will be closed with the next upload (add the <tt>closes:</tt> in
the <file>changelog</file>). This is particularly useful if you
are several developers working on the same package.
    <item>
Once a corrected package is available in the <em>unstable</em>
distribution, you can close the bug. This can be done automatically,
read <ref id="upload-bugfix">.
</enumlist>

      <sect1 id="bug-security">Handling security-related bugs
        <p>
Due to their sensitive nature, security-related bugs must be handled
carefully.  The Debian Security Team exists to coordinate this
activity, keeping track of outstanding security problems, helping
maintainers with security problems or fix them themselves, sending
security advisories, and maintaining security.debian.org.

<!-- information about the security database goes here once it's ready -->
<!-- (mdz) -->

        <sect2 id="bug-security-you">What to do when you learn of a
        security problem
          <p>
When you become aware of a security-related bug in a Debian package,
whether or not you are the maintainer, collect pertinent information
about the problem, and promptly contact the security team at 
&email-security-team;.
Useful information includes, for example:

<list compact>
  <item>What versions of the package are known to be affected by the
  bug.

  <item>The nature of the exposure (root compromise, user compromise,
  remote/local attack)

  <item>The nature of the fix, if any is available (patches are
  especially helpful)
</list>

        <sect2 id="bug-security-confidentiality">Confidentiality
          <p>
Unlike most other activities within Debian, information about security
issues must sometimes be kept private for a time.  Whether this is the
case depends on the nature of the problem and corresponding fix, and
whether it is already a matter of public knowledge.
<p>
There are a few ways a developer can learn of a security problem:

<list compact>
    <item>he notices it on a public forum (mailing list, website, etc.)
    <item>someone files a bug report
    <item>someone informs him via private email
</list>

 In the first two cases, the information is public and it is important
 to have a fix as soon as possible. In the last case, however, it
 might not be public information. In that case there are a few
 possible options for dealing with the problem:

<list>
  <item>if it is a trivial problem (like insecure temporary files)
  there is no need to keep the problem a secret and a fix should be
  made and released.

  <item>if the problem is severe (remotely exploitable, possibility to
  gain root privileges) it is preferable to share the information with
  other vendors and coordinate a release. The security team keeps
  contacts with the various organizations and individuals and can take
  care of that.
</list>

<p>
 In all cases if the person who reports the problem asks to not
 disclose the information that should be respected, with the obvious
 exception of informing the security team (make sure you tell the
 security team that the information can not be disclosed).

<p>
Please note that if secrecy is needed you can also not upload a fix to
unstable (or anywhere else), since the changelog and diff information
for unstable is public.

<p>
There are two reasons for releasing information even though secrecy is
requested: the problem has been known for too long, or the information
has become public.

        <sect2 id="bug-security-advisories">Security Advisories
          <p>
Security advisories are only issued for the current, released stable
distribution, not for testing or unstable.  When released, advisories
are sent to the &email-debian-security-announce;
mailing list and posted on <url
id="&url-debian-security-advisories;" name="the security web page">.
Security advisories are written and posted by the security
team. However they certainly do not mind if a maintainer can supply
some of the information for them, or write part of the
text. Information that should be in an advisory includes:

<list compact>
  <item>A description of the problem and its scope, including:
    <list>
       <item>The type of problem (privilege escalation, denial of
  service, etc.)
       <item>How it can be exploited
       <item>Whether it is remotely or locally exploitable
       <item>How the problem was fixed
    </list>
  <item>Version numbers of affected packages
  <item>Version numbers of fixed packages
  <item>Information on where to obtain the updated packages
</list>

         <sect2 id="bug-security-building">Preparing packages to
         address security issues
         <p>
One way that you can assist the security team in their duties is to
provide fixed packages suitable for a security advisory for the stable
Debian release.
         <p>
 When an update is made to the stable release, care must be taken to
 avoid changing system behaviour or introducing new bugs.  In order to
 do this, make as few changes as possible to fix the bug.  Users and
 administrators rely on the exact behaviour of a release once it is
 made, so any change we make can possibly break someone's system.
 This is especially true of libraries: make sure you never change the
 API or ABI, no matter how small the change.
<p>
This means that moving to a new upstream version is not a good
solution.  Instead, the relevant changes should be backported to the
version present in the current stable Debian release. Generally,
upstream maintainers are willing to help if needed.  If not, the
Debian security team may be able to help.
<p>
In some cases, it is not possible to backport a security fix, for
example when large amounts of sourcecode need to be modified or
rewritten.  If this happens, it may be necessary to move to a new
upstream version.  However, you must always coordinate that with the
security team beforehand.
<p>
Related to this is another important guideline: always test your
changes.  If you have an exploit available, try it and see if it
indeed succeeds on the unpatched package and fails on the fixed
package.  Test other, normal actions as well, as sometimes a security
fix can break seemingly unrelated features in subtle ways.

When packaging the fix, keep the following points in mind:

<list>
    <item>Make sure you target the right distribution in your
    debian/changelog. For stable this is stable-security and for
    testing this is testing-security. Do not target
    <em>distribution</em>-proposed-updates!

    <item>Make sure the version number is proper. It must be greater
    than the current package, but less than package versions in later
    distributions.  If in doubt, test it with <tt>dpkg
    --compare-versions</tt>.  For testing, this means there must be
    a greater version in unstable. If there is none yet (for example,
    if testing and unstable have the same version) you must upload a
    new version to unstable first.

    <item>Do not make source-only uploads if your package has any
    binary-all packages (do not use the <tt>-S</tt> option to
    <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>).  The buildd infrastructure will
    not build those. This point applies to normal package uploads as
    well.

    <item>Always build with full source (use the <tt>-sa</tt> option
    for <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>).

    <item>Be sure to use the exact same .orig.tar.gz as used in the
    normal archive, otherwise it is not possible to move the security
    fix into the main archives later.

    <item>Be sure, when compiling a package, to compile on a clean
    system which only has packages installed from the distribution you
    are building for. If you do not have such a system yourself, you
    can use a debian.org machine (see <ref id="server-machines">)
    or setup a chroot (see <ref id="pbuilder"> and
    <ref id="debootstrap">).
</list>

      <sect2 id="bug-security-upload">Uploading the fixed package
<p>
<em>DO NOT</em> upload a package to the security upload queue without
prior authorization from the security team.  If the package does not
exactly meet the team's requirements, it will cause many problems and
delays in dealing with the unwanted upload.
<p>
Once you have created and tested the new package, and it has been
approved by the security team, it needs to be uploaded so that it can
be installed in the archives. For security uploads, the place to
upload to is
<tt>ftp://security.debian.org/pub/SecurityUploadQueue/</tt> .

<p>
Once an upload to the security queue has been accepted, the package
will automatically be rebuilt for all architectures and stored for
verification by the security team.

<p>
Uploads which are waiting for acceptance or verification are only
accessible by the security team. This is necessary since there might
be fixes for security problems that cannot be disclosed yet.

<p>
If a member of the security team accepts a package, it will be
installed on security.debian.org as well as the proper
<em>distribution</em>-proposed-updates on ftp-master or in the non-US
archive.

      <sect1 id="upload-bugfix">When bugs are closed by new uploads
        <p>
If you fix a bug in your packages, it is your responsibility as the
package maintainer to close the bug when it has been fixed.  However,
you should not close the bug until the package which fixes the bug has
been accepted into the Debian archive.  Therefore, once you get
notification that your updated package has been installed into the
archive, you can and should close the bug in the BTS.
        <p>
If you are using a new version of <package>dpkg-dev</package> and you do
your changelog entry properly, the archive maintenance software will close
the bugs automatically.  All you have to do is follow a certain syntax in
your <file>debian/changelog</file> file:
<example>
acme-cannon (3.1415) unstable; urgency=low

  * Frobbed with options (closes: Bug#98339)
  * Added safety to prevent operator dismemberment, closes: bug#98765,
    bug#98713, #98714.
  * Added man page. Closes: #98725.
</example>

Technically speaking, the following Perl regular expression is what is
used:
<example>
  /closes:\s*(?:bug)?\#\s*\d+(?:,\s*(?:bug)?\#\s*\d+)*/ig
</example>

The author prefers the <tt>closes: #<var>XXX</var></tt> syntax, as
one of the most concise and easiest to integrate with the text of the
<file>changelog</file>.
        <p>
If you want to close bugs the old fashioned, manual way, it is usually
sufficient to mail the <file>.changes</file> file to
<email>XXX-done@bugs.debian.org</email>, where <var>XXX</var> is your
bug number.


      <sect1 id="lintian-reports">Lintian reports
        <p>
You should periodically get the new <package>lintian</package> from
`unstable' and check over all your packages.  Alternatively you can
check for your maintainer email address at the <url id="&url-lintian;"
name="online lintian report">.  That report, which is updated
automatically, contains <prgn>lintian</prgn> reports against the
latest version of the distribution (usually from 'unstable') using the
latest <package>lintian</package>.


  <chapt id="best-pkging-practices">
    <heading>Best Packaging Practices</heading>
    <p>
Debian's quality is largely due to its Policy that all packages
follow. But it's also because we accumulated years of experience
in packaging; very talented people created great tools to make
good packages without much troubles.
    <p>
This chapter provides the best known solutions to common problems
faced during packaging. It also lists various advice collected on
several mailing lists. By following them, you will make Debian's quality
even better.

    <sect id="packaging-tools">
        <heading>Packaging tools and common cases</heading>

        <sect1 id="helper-scripts">Helper scripts
        <p>
To help you in your packaging effort, you can use helper scripts.
The best scripts available are provided by <package>debhelper</package>.
With <prgn>dh_make</prgn> (package <package>dh-make</package>), you can
generate in a few seconds a package that is mostly ready. However that
apparent simplicity is hiding many things done by the helper scripts.
You have to know what is done by them, that's why you are strongly
encouraged to read the corresponding manual pages, starting with
<tt>debhelper(1)</tt>. That's required because you'll have to
understand what is going on to be able to use them wisely and to
fix bugs in a pretty way.
        <p>
debhelper is very useful because it lets you follow the latest Debian policy
without doing many modifications since the changes that can be automated are
almost always automatically done by a debhelper script. Furthermore it
offers enough flexibility to be able to use it in conjunction with
some hand crafted shell invocations within the <file>rules</file> file.
        <p>
You can however decide to not use any helper script, and still write
some very good <file>rules</file> file. Many examples are available
at <url id="&url-rules-files;">.

<!--
        <sect1 id="pkg-mgmt-cvs">Managing a package with CVS
        <p>
        &FIXME; presentation of cvs-buildpackage, updating sources
        via CVS (debian/rules refresh).
-->

        <sect1 id="multiple-patches">Package with multiple patches
        <p>
Big packages tend to have many upstream bugs that you want to fix within
the Debian package. If you just correct the bug in the source, all the
fixes are directly integrated in the <file>.diff.gz</file> file and you
can't easily differentiate the various patches that you applied. It gets
very messy when you have to update the package to a new upstream version
which integrates some of the fixes (but not all).
        <p>
The good solution is to keep separate patches within the
<file>debian/patches</file> directory and to apply them on the fly at
build time. The package <package>dbs</package> provides an
implementation of such a system, you just have to build-depend on dbs to
be able to use its functionalities. The package
<package>hello-dbs</package> is a simple example that demonstrates how to
use <package>dbs</package>.
        <p>
Additionally, dbs provides facilities to create the patches and to keep
track of what they are for.

        <sect1 id="multiple-binary">Multiple binary packages
        <p>
A single source package will often build several binary packages, either
to provide several flavors of the same software (examples are the
vim-* packages) or to make several small packages instead of a big one
(it's interesting if the user doesn't need all the packages and can thus
save some disk space).
        <p>
The second case can be easily managed by <prgn>dh_install</prgn> (from
<package>debhelper</package>) to move files from the build directory to
the package's temporary trees.
        <p>
The first case is a bit more difficult since it involves multiple recompiles
of the same software but with different configure options. The 
<package>vim</package> is an example of how to manage this with an
hand crafted rules file. 
<!-- &FIXME; Find a good debhelper example with multile configure/make
     cycles -->

        <sect1 id="handling-debconf-translations">Handling debconf translations
        <p>
Like porters, translators have a difficult task.  Since they work on many
packages, they cannot keep track of every change in packages in order to
be informed when a translated string is outdated.  Fortunately
<package>debconf</package> can automatically report outdated translations,
if package maintainers follow some basic guidelines described below.
        <p>
Translators can use <prgn>debconf-getlang</prgn> (package
<package>debconf-utils</package>) to write a <file>templates.xx</file>
file containing both English and localized fields (where <em>xx</em> is
the language code, may be followed by a country code).  This file can be
put into the <file>debian</file> subdirectory without any change.
        <p>
When building a binary package, <file>debian/templates.xx</file> files are
merged along with <file>debian/templates</file> to generate the
<file>templates</file> file contained in the binary package.  This is
automatically done by <prgn>dh_installdebconf</prgn> (package
<package>debhelper</package>). If you do not use debhelper, you can
do the same with <prgn>debconf-mergetemplate</prgn>
(package <package>debconf-utils</package>). 
        <p>
When the package maintainer needs to update the templates file, they only
change <file>debian/templates</file>.  When English strings in this file
and in <file>debian/templates.xx</file> differ, translators do know that
their translation is outdated.
        <p>
Please see the page about
<url id="&url-debconf-l10n-help;" name="localizing debconf templates files">
at the Debian web site, it contains more detailed instructions, including a
full example.


    <sect id="specific-practices">
        <heading>Specific packaging practices</heading>

<!--
        <sect1 id="bpp-kernel">Kernel modules/patches
        <p>
        &FIXME; Heavy use of kernel-package. provide files in
        /etc/modutils/ for module configuration.
-->

        <sect1 id="bpp-libraries">Libraries
        <p>
Libraries are always difficult to package for various reasons. The policy
imposes many constraints to ease their maintenance and to make sure
upgrades are as simple as possible when a new upstream version comes out.
A breakage in a library can result in dozens of dependent packages to
break...
        <p>
Good practices for library packaging have been grouped in
<url id="&url-libpkg-guide;" name="the library packaging guide">.
        
        <sect1 id="bpp-other-specific-practices">Other specific packages
        <p>
Several subsets of packages have special sub-policies and corresponding
packaging rules and practices:
<list>
    <item>
Perl related packages have a <url name="perl policy" id="&url-perl-policy;">,
some examples of packages following that policy are
<package>libdbd-pg-perl</package> (binary perl module) or 
<package>libmldbm-perl</package> (arch independent perl module).
    <item>
Python related packages have their python policy:
&file-python-policy; (in the python package).
    <item>
Emacs related packages have the <url id="&url-emacs-policy;"
name="emacs policy">.
    <item>
Java related packages have their <url id="&url-java-policy;"
name="java policy">.
    <item>
Ocaml related packages have their ocaml policy: &file-ocaml-policy; (in
the <package>ocaml</package> package). A good example is the <package>camlzip</package>
source package.
</list>

    <sect id="config-mgmt">
        <heading>Configuration management</heading>
        
        <sect1 id="config-wise-debconf">The wise use of debconf
        <p>
Debconf is a configuration management system, it is used by all the
various packaging scripts (postinst mainly) to request feedback from the
user concerning how to configure the package. Direct user interactions
must now be avoided in favor of debconf interaction. This will enable
non-interactive installations in the future.
        <p>
Debconf is a great tool but it is often badly used ... many common mistakes
are listed in the <manref name="debconf-devel" section="8"> man page. 
It is something that you must read if you decide to use debconf.

<!--
        <sect1 id="custom-config-files">Custom configuration files
        <p>
        &FIXME; speak of "ucf", explain solution with a template,
        explain conf.d directories

        <sect1 id="config-with-db">Use of an external database
        <p>
        &FIXME; The software may require a database that you need to setup.
        But the database may be local or distant. Thus you can't depend
        on a database server but just on the corresponding library.

        sympa may be an example package
-->     

    <sect id="misc-advice">
        <heading>Miscellaneous advice</heading>

        <sect1 id="writing-desc">
            <heading>Writing useful descriptions</heading>
            <p>
The description of the package (as defined by the corresponding field
in the <file>control</file> file) is usually the first information
available to the user before they install it. As such, it should
provide all the required information to let him decide whether
to install the package.
            <p>
For example, apart from the usual description that you adapt from the
upstream <file>README</file>, you should include the URL of the
web site if there's any. If the package is not yet considered stable
by the author, you may also want to warn the user that the
package is not ready for production use.
            <p>
For consistency and for an aesthetic concern, you should capitalize the
first letter of the description.
            <p>
Last but not least, since the first user impression is based on
that description, you should be careful to avoid English
mistakes. Ensure that you spell check it.
<prgn>ispell</prgn> has a special option (<tt>-g</tt>) for that:
<example>ispell -d american -g debian/control</example>.




  <chapt id="beyond-pkging">
    <heading>Beyond Packaging</heading>
    <p>
Debian is about a lot more than just packaging software and
maintaining those packages.  This chapter contains information about 
ways, often really critical ways, to contribute to Debian beyond
simply creating and maintaining packages.
    <p>
As a volunteer organization, Debian relies on the discretion of its
members in choosing what they want to work on, and choosing what is
the most critical thing to spend their time on.

    <sect id="submit-bug">
        <heading>Bug Reporting</heading>
        <p>
We encourage you to file bugs as you find them in Debian packages.  In
fact, Debian developers are often the first line testers.  Finding and
reporting bugs in other developer's packages improves the quality of
Debian.
        <p>
Try to submit the bug from a normal user account at which you are
likely to receive mail.  Do not submit bugs as root.
        <p>
Make sure the bug is not already filed against a package.  Try to do a
good job reporting a bug and redirecting it to the proper location.
For extra credit, you can go through other packages, merging bugs
which are reported more than once, or setting bug severities to
`fixed' when they have already been fixed.  Note that when you are
neither the bug submitter nor the package maintainer, you should
not actually close the bug (unless you secure permission from the
maintainer).
        <p>
From time to time you may want to check what has been going on
with the bug reports that you submitted. Take this opportunity to
close those that you can't reproduce anymore. To find
out all the bugs you submitted, you just have to visit
<tt>http://&bugs-host;/from:&lt;your-email-addr&gt;</tt>.

      <sect1 id="submit-many-bugs">Reporting lots of bugs at once
        <p>
Reporting a great number of bugs for the same problem on a great
number of different packages &mdash; i.e., more than 10 &mdash; is a deprecated
practice.  Take all possible steps to avoid submitting bulk bugs at
all.  For instance, if checking for the problem can be automated, add
a new check to <package>lintian</package> so that an error or warning
is emitted.
        <p>
If you report more than 10 bugs on the same topic at once, it is
recommended that you send a message to &email-debian-devel; describing
your intention before submitting the report. This will allow other
developers to verify that the bug is a real problem. In addition, it
will help prevent a situation in which several maintainers start
filing the same bug report simultaneously.
        <p>
Note that when sending lots of bugs on the same subject, you should
send the bug report to <email>maintonly@bugs.debian.org</email> so
that the bug report is not forwarded to the bug distribution mailing
list.


      <sect id="qa-effort">Quality Assurance effort
        <p>
Even though there is a dedicated group of people for Quality
Assurance, QA duties are not reserved solely for them. You can
participate in this effort by keeping your packages as bug-free as
possible, and as lintian-clean (see <ref id="lintian-reports">) as
possible. If you do not find that possible, then you should consider
orphaning some of your packages (see <ref
id="orphaning">). Alternatively, you may ask the help of other people
in order to catch up the backlog of bugs that you have (you can ask
for help on &email-debian-qa; or &email-debian-devel;).

    <sect id="mia-qa">Dealing with unreachable maintainers
      <p>
If you notice that a package is lacking maintenance, you should
make sure the maintainer is active and will continue to work on
his packages. Try contacting him yourself.
      <p>
If you do not get a reply after a few weeks you should collect all 
useful information about this maintainer. Start by logging into 
the <url id="&url-debian-db;" name="Debian Developer's Database">
and doing a full search to check whether the maintainer is on vacation
and when they were last seen. Collect any important package names
they maintain and any Release Critical bugs filed against them.
      <p>
Send all this information to &email-debian-qa;, in order to let the 
QA people do whatever is needed.

    <sect id="contacting-maintainers">Contacting other maintainers
      <p>
During your lifetime within Debian, you will have to contact other
maintainers for various reasons. You may want to discuss a new
way of cooperating between a set of related packages, or you may
simply remind someone that a new upstream version is available
and that you need it.
      <p>
Looking up the email address of the maintainer for the package can be
distracting. Fortunately, there is a simple email alias,
<tt>&lt;package&gt;@&packages-host;</tt>, which provides a way to
email the maintainer, whatever their individual email address (or
addresses) may be.  Replace <tt>&lt;package&gt;</tt> with the name of
a source or a binary package.
      <p>
You may also be interested in contacting the persons who are
subscribed to a given source package via <ref id="pkg-tracking-system">.
You can do so by using the <tt>&lt;package-name&gt;@&pts-host;</tt>
email address.


    <sect id="newmaint">
      <heading>Interacting with prospective Debian developers</heading>
      <p>
Debian's success depends on its ability to attract and retain new and
talented volunteers.  If you are an experienced developer, we
recommend that you get involved with the process of bringing in new
developers.  This section describes how to help new prospective
developers.


      <sect1 id="sponsoring">Sponsoring packages
        <p>
Sponsoring a package means uploading a package for a maintainer who is not
able to do it on their own, a new maintainer applicant. Sponsoring a package
also means accepting responsibility for it.
        <p>
If you wish to volunteer as a sponsor, you can sign up at <url
id="&url-sponsors;">.
        <p>
New maintainers usually have certain difficulties creating Debian packages
&mdash; this is quite understandable. That is why the sponsor is there, to check
the package and verify that it is good enough for inclusion in Debian.
(Note that if the sponsored package is new, the ftpmasters will also have to
inspect it before letting it in.)
        <p>
Sponsoring merely by signing the upload or just recompiling is
<strong>definitely not recommended</strong>. You need to build the source
package just like you would build a package of your own. Remember that it
doesn't matter that you left the prospective developer's name both in the
changelog and the control file, the upload can still be traced to you.
        <p>
If you are an application manager for a prospective developer, you can also
be their sponsor. That way you can also verify how the applicant is
handling the 'Tasks and Skills' part of their application.

      <sect1>Managing sponsored packages
        <p>
By uploading a sponsored package to Debian, you are certifying that
the package meets minimum Debian standards.  That implies that you
must build and test the package on your own system before uploading.
        <p>
You can not simply upload a binary <file>.deb</file> from the sponsoree. In
theory, you should only ask only for the diff file, and the location of the
original source tarball, and then you should download the source and apply
the diff yourself. In practice, you may want to use the source package
built by your sponsoree. In that case, you have to check that they haven't
altered the upstream files in the <file>.orig.tar.gz</file> file that
they're providing.
        <p>
Do not be afraid to write the sponsoree back and point out changes
that need to be made.  It often takes several rounds of back-and-forth
email before the package is in acceptable shape.  Being a sponsor
means being a mentor.
        <p>
Once the package meets Debian standards, build the package with
<example>dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc</example> and sign it
with <example>debsign -m &lt;your-email-addr&gt; &lt;changes-file&gt;</example>
before uploading it to the incoming directory.
        <p>
The Maintainer field of the <file>control</file> file and the
<file>changelog</file> should list the person who did the packaging, i.e. the
sponsoree. The sponsoree will therefore get all the BTS mail about the
package. 
        <p>
If you prefer to leave a more evident trace of your sponsorship job, you
can add a line stating it in the most recent changelog entry.
       <p>
You are encouraged to keep tabs on the package you sponsor using 
<ref id="pkg-tracking-system">.

      <sect1>Advocating new developers
        <p>
See the page about <url id="&url-newmaint-advocate;"
name="advocating a prospective developer"> at the Debian web site.

      <sect1>Handling new maintainer applications
        <p>
Please see <url id="&url-newmaint-amchecklist;" name="Checklist for
Application Managers"> at the Debian web site.



    <appendix id="tools">Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools
      <p>
This section contains a rough overview of the tools available to
maintainers.  The following is by no means complete or definitive, but
just a guide to some of the more popular tools.
      <p>
Debian maintainer tools are meant to help convenience developers and 
free their time for critical tasks.  As Larry Wall says, there's more
than one way to do it.
      <p>
Some people prefer to use high-level package maintenance tools and
some do not.  Debian is officially agnostic on this issue; any tool
which gets the job done is fine.  Therefore, this section is not meant
to stipulate to anyone which tools they should use or how they should
go about with their duties of maintainership.  Nor is it meant to
endorse any particular tool to the exclusion of a competing tool.
      <p>
Most of the descriptions of these packages come from the actual
package descriptions themselves.  Further information can be found in
the package documentation itself.  You can also see more info with the
command <tt>apt-cache show &lt;package-name&gt;</tt>.


      <sect id="dpkg-dev">
        <heading><package>dpkg-dev</package>
        <p>
<package>dpkg-dev</package> contains the tools (including
<prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>) required to unpack, build and upload Debian
source packages.  These utilities contain the fundamental, low-level
functionality required to create and manipulated packages; as such,
they are required for any Debian maintainer.


      <sect id="lintian">
        <heading><package>lintian</package>
        <p>
<package>Lintian</package> dissects Debian packages and reports bugs
and policy violations. It contains automated checks for many aspects
of Debian policy as well as some checks for common errors.  The use of
<package>lintian</package> has already been discussed in <ref
id="upload-checking"> and <ref id="lintian-reports">.


      <sect id="debconf">
        <heading><package>debconf</package></heading>
        <p>
<package>debconf</package> provides a consistent interface to
configuring packages interactively.  It is user interface
independent, allowing end-users to configure packages with a
text-only interface, an HTML interface, or a dialog interface.  New
interfaces can be added modularly.
        <p>
You can find documentation for this package in the
<package>debconf-doc</package> package.
        <p>
Many feel that this system should be used for all packages requiring
interactive configuration.  <package>debconf</package> is not
currently required by Debian Policy, however, that may change in the
future.
        <p>


      <sect id="debhelper">
        <heading><package>debhelper</package>
        <p>
<package>debhelper</package> is a collection of programs that can be
used in <file>debian/rules</file> to automate common tasks related to
building binary Debian packages. Programs are included to install
various files into your package, compress files, fix file permissions,
integrate your package with the Debian menu system.
        <p>
Unlike some approaches, <package>debhelper</package> is broken into
several small, granular commands which act in a consistent manner.  As
such, it allows a greater granularity of control than some of the
other "debian/rules tools".
        <p>
There are a number of little <package>debhelper</package> add-on
packages, too transient to document.  You can see the list of most of
them by doing <tt>apt-cache search ^dh-</tt>.


      <sect id="debmake">
        <heading><package>debmake</package>
        <p>
<package>debmake</package>, a pre-cursor to
<package>debhelper</package>, is a less granular
<file>debian/rules</file> assistant. It includes two main programs:
<prgn>deb-make</prgn>, which can be used to help a maintainer convert
a regular (non-Debian) source archive into a Debian source package;
and <prgn>debstd</prgn>, which incorporates in one big shot the same
sort of automated functions that one finds in
<package>debhelper</package>.
        <p>
The consensus is that <package>debmake</package> is now deprecated in
favor of <package>debhelper</package>.  However, it's not a bug to use
<package>debmake</package>.


      <sect id="yada">
        <heading><package>yada</package>
        <p>
<package>yada</package> is another packaging helper tool.  It uses a
<file>debian/packages</file> file to auto-generate
<file>debian/rules</file> and other necessary files in the
<file>debian/</file> subdirectory.
        <p>
Note that <package>yada</package> is called "essentially unmaintained"
by it's own maintainer, Charles Briscoe-Smith.  As such, it can be
considered deprecated.


      <sect id="equivs">
        <heading><package>equivs</package>
        <p>
<package>equivs</package> is another package for making packages.  It
is often suggested for local use if you need to make a package simply
to fulfill dependencies.  It is also sometimes used when making
``meta-packages'', which are packages whose only purpose is to depend
on other packages.


      <sect id="cvs-buildpackage">
        <heading><package>cvs-buildpackage</package>
        <p>
<package>cvs-buildpackage</package> provides the capability to inject
or import Debian source packages into a CVS repository, build a Debian
package from the CVS repository, and helps in integrating upstream
changes into the repository.
        <p>
These utilities provide an infrastructure to facilitate the use of CVS
by Debian maintainers. This allows one to keep separate CVS branches
of a package for <em>stable</em>, <em>unstable</em>, and possibly
<em>experimental</em> distributions, along with the other benefits of
a version control system.


      <sect id="dupload">
        <heading><package>dupload</package>
        <p>
<package>dupload</package> is a package and a script to automatically
upload Debian packages to the Debian archive, to log the upload, and
to send mail about the upload of a package.  You can configure it for
new upload locations or methods.


      <sect id="dput">
        <heading><package>dput</package>
        <p>
The <package>dput</package> package and script does much the same
thing as <package>dupload</package>, but in a different way.  It has
some features over <package>dupload</package>, such as the ability to
check the GnuPG signature and checksums before uploading, and the
possibility of running <prgn>dinstall</prgn> in dry-run mode after the
upload.


      <sect id="fakeroot">
        <heading><package>fakeroot</package>
        <p>
<package>fakeroot</package> simulates root privileges.  This enables
you to build packages without being root (packages usually want to
install files with root ownership).  If you have
<package>fakeroot</package> installed, you can build packages as a
user: <tt>dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot</tt>.


      <sect id="debootstrap">
        <heading><package>debootstrap</package>
        <p>
The <package>debootstrap</package> package and script allows you to
"bootstrap" a Debian base system into any part of your file-system.
By "base system", we mean the bare minimum of packages required to
operate and install the rest of the system.
        <p>
Having a system like this can be useful in many ways. For instance,
you can <prgn>chroot</prgn> into it if you want to test your build
depends.  Or, you can test how your package behaves when installed
into a bare base system.


      <sect id="pbuilder">
        <heading><package>pbuilder</package>
        <p>
<package>pbuilder</package> constructs a chrooted system, and builds
a package inside the chroot. It is very useful to check that
a package's build-dependencies are correct, and to be sure that
unnecessary and wrong build dependencies will not exist in the
resulting package. 


      <sect id="devscripts">
        <heading><package>devscripts</package>
        <p>
<package>devscripts</package> is a package containing a few wrappers
and tools which are very helpful for maintaining your Debian
packages.  Example scripts include <prgn>debchange</prgn> and
<prgn>dch</prgn>, which manipulate your <file>debian/changelog</file>
file from the command-line, and <prgn>debuild</prgn>, which is a
wrapper around <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>. The <prgn>bts</prgn>
utility is also very helpful to update the state of bug reports on the
command line, as is <prgn>uscan</prgn> to watch for new upstream
versions of your packages. Check the <tt>devscripts(1)</tt> manual
page for a complete list of available scripts.


      <sect id="dpkg-dev-el">
        <heading><package>dpkg-dev-el</package>
        <p>
<package>dpkg-dev-el</package> is an Emacs lisp package which provides
assistance when editing some of the files in the <file>debian</file>
directory of your package.  For instance, when editing
<file>debian/changelog</file>, there are handy functions for
finalizing a version and listing the package's current bugs.


      <sect id="debget">
        <heading><package>debget</package>
        <p>
<package>debget</package> is a package containing a convenient script
which can be helpful in downloading files from the Debian archive.
You can use it to download source packages, for instance (although
<tt>apt-get source &lt;package-name&gt;</tt> does pretty much the same
thing).


<!-- FIXME: add the following
  dpkg-awk
  alien
  dpkg-repack
  grep-dctrl
-->


  </book>
</debiandoc>

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