1 # SOME DESCRIPTIVE TITLE
2 # Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9 "Project-Id-Version: PACKAGE VERSION\n"
10 "Report-Msgid-Bugs-To: \n"
11 "POT-Creation-Date: 2007-07-01 21:16+0000\n"
12 "PO-Revision-Date: 2007-07-01 23:15+0000\n"
13 "Last-Translator: <>\n"
16 "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8\n"
17 "Content-Transfer-Encoding: "
19 # type: Content of: <chapter><title>
21 msgid "Managing Packages"
22 msgstr "Gestion des paquets"
24 # type: Content of: <chapter><para>
27 "This chapter contains information related to creating, uploading, "
28 "maintaining, and porting packages."
29 msgstr "Ce chapitre contient des informations relatives à la création, l'envoi,"
30 "la maintenance et le portage des paquets."
32 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
35 msgstr "Nouveaux paquets"
37 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
40 "If you want to create a new package for the Debian distribution, you should "
41 "first check the <ulink url=\"&url-wnpp;\">Work-Needing and Prospective "
42 "Packages (WNPP)</ulink> list. Checking the WNPP list ensures that no one is "
43 "already working on packaging that software, and that effort is not "
44 "duplicated. Read the <ulink url=\"&url-wnpp;\">WNPP web pages</ulink> for "
48 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
51 "Assuming no one else is already working on your prospective package, you "
52 "must then submit a bug report (<xref linkend=\"submit-bug\"/> ) against the "
53 "pseudo-package <systemitem role=\"package\">wnpp</systemitem> describing "
54 "your plan to create a new package, including, but not limiting yourself to, "
55 "a description of the package, the license of the prospective package, and "
56 "the current URL where it can be downloaded from."
59 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
62 "You should set the subject of the bug to ``ITP: <replaceable>foo</"
63 "replaceable> -- <replaceable>short description</replaceable>'', substituting "
64 "the name of the new package for <replaceable>foo</replaceable>. The "
65 "severity of the bug report must be set to <emphasis>wishlist</emphasis>. If "
66 "you feel it's necessary, send a copy to &email-debian-devel; by putting the "
67 "address in the <literal>X-Debbugs-CC:</literal> header of the message (no, "
68 "don't use <literal>CC:</literal>, because that way the message's subject "
69 "won't indicate the bug number)."
72 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
75 "Please include a <literal>Closes: bug#<replaceable>nnnnn</replaceable></"
76 "literal> entry in the changelog of the new package in order for the bug "
77 "report to be automatically closed once the new package is installed in the "
78 "archive (see <xref linkend=\"upload-bugfix\"/> )."
81 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
84 "When closing security bugs include CVE numbers as well as the Closes: "
85 "#nnnnn. This is useful for the security team to track vulnerabilities. If "
86 "an upload is made to fix the bug before the advisory ID is known, it is "
87 "encouraged to modify the historical changelog entry with the next upload. "
88 "Even in this case, please include all available pointers to background "
89 "information in the original changelog entry."
92 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
95 "There are a number of reasons why we ask maintainers to announce their "
99 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
102 "It helps the (potentially new) maintainer to tap into the experience of "
103 "people on the list, and lets them know if anyone else is working on it "
107 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
110 "It lets other people thinking about working on the package know that there "
111 "already is a volunteer, so efforts may be shared."
114 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
117 "It lets the rest of the maintainers know more about the package than the one "
118 "line description and the usual changelog entry ``Initial release'' that gets "
119 "posted to <literal>debian-devel-changes</literal>."
122 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
125 "It is helpful to the people who live off unstable (and form our first line "
126 "of testers). We should encourage these people."
129 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
132 "The announcements give maintainers and other interested parties a better "
133 "feel of what is going on, and what is new, in the project."
136 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
139 "Please see <ulink url=\"http://&ftp-master-host;/REJECT-FAQ.html\"></ulink> "
140 "for common rejection reasons for a new package."
143 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
145 msgid "Recording changes in the package"
148 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
151 "Changes that you make to the package need to be recorded in the "
152 "<filename>debian/changelog</filename>. These changes should provide a "
153 "concise description of what was changed, why (if it's in doubt), and note if "
154 "any bugs were closed. They also record when the package was completed. "
155 "This file will be installed in <filename>/usr/share/doc/"
156 "<replaceable>package</replaceable>/changelog.Debian.gz</filename>, or "
157 "<filename>/usr/share/doc/<replaceable>package</replaceable>/changelog.gz</"
158 "filename> for native packages."
161 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
164 "The <filename>debian/changelog</filename> file conforms to a certain "
165 "structure, with a number of different fields. One field of note, the "
166 "<emphasis>distribution</emphasis>, is described in <xref linkend="
167 "\"distribution\"/> . More information about the structure of this file can "
168 "be found in the Debian Policy section titled <filename>debian/changelog</"
172 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
175 "Changelog entries can be used to automatically close Debian bugs when the "
176 "package is installed into the archive. See <xref linkend=\"upload-bugfix\"/"
180 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
183 "It is conventional that the changelog entry of a package that contains a new "
184 "upstream version of the software looks like this:"
187 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><screen>
190 msgid "* new upstream version"
193 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
196 "There are tools to help you create entries and finalize the "
197 "<filename>changelog</filename> for release — see <xref linkend=\"devscripts"
198 "\"/> and <xref linkend=\"dpkg-dev-el\"/> ."
201 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
203 msgid "See also <xref linkend=\"bpp-debian-changelog\"/> ."
206 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
208 msgid "Testing the package"
211 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
214 "Before you upload your package, you should do basic testing on it. At a "
215 "minimum, you should try the following activities (you'll need to have an "
216 "older version of the same Debian package around):"
219 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
222 "Install the package and make sure the software works, or upgrade the package "
223 "from an older version to your new version if a Debian package for it already "
227 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
230 "Run <command>lintian</command> over the package. You can run "
231 "<command>lintian</command> as follows: <literal>lintian -v "
232 "<replaceable>package-version</replaceable>.changes</literal>. This will "
233 "check the source package as well as the binary package. If you don't "
234 "understand the output that <command>lintian</command> generates, try adding "
235 "the <literal>-i</literal> switch, which will cause <command>lintian</"
236 "command> to output a very verbose description of the problem."
239 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
242 "Normally, a package should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be uploaded if it causes "
243 "lintian to emit errors (they will start with <literal>E</literal>)."
246 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
249 "For more information on <command>lintian</command>, see <xref linkend="
253 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
256 "Optionally run <xref linkend=\"debdiff\"/> to analyze changes from an older "
257 "version, if one exists."
260 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
263 "Downgrade the package to the previous version (if one exists) — this tests "
264 "the <filename>postrm</filename> and <filename>prerm</filename> scripts."
267 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
269 msgid "Remove the package, then reinstall it."
272 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
275 "Copy the source package in a different directory and try unpacking it and "
276 "rebuilding it. This tests if the package relies on existing files outside "
277 "of it, or if it relies on permissions being preserved on the files shipped "
278 "inside the .diff.gz file."
281 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
283 msgid "Layout of the source package"
286 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
288 msgid "There are two types of Debian source packages:"
291 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
294 "the so-called <emphasis>native</emphasis> packages, where there is no "
295 "distinction between the original sources and the patches applied for Debian"
298 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
301 "the (more common) packages where there's an original source tarball file "
302 "accompanied by another file that contains the patches applied for Debian"
305 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
308 "For the native packages, the source package includes a Debian source control "
309 "file (<literal>.dsc</literal>) and the source tarball (<literal>.tar.gz</"
310 "literal>). A source package of a non-native package includes a Debian "
311 "source control file, the original source tarball (<literal>.orig.tar.gz</"
312 "literal>) and the Debian patches (<literal>.diff.gz</literal>)."
315 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
318 "Whether a package is native or not is determined when it is built by "
319 "<citerefentry> <refentrytitle>dpkg-buildpackage</refentrytitle> "
320 "<manvolnum>1</manvolnum> </citerefentry>. The rest of this section relates "
321 "only to non-native packages."
324 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
327 "The first time a version is uploaded which corresponds to a particular "
328 "upstream version, the original source tar file should be uploaded and "
329 "included in the <filename>.changes</filename> file. Subsequently, this very "
330 "same tar file should be used to build the new diffs and <filename>.dsc</"
331 "filename> files, and will not need to be re-uploaded."
334 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
337 "By default, <command>dpkg-genchanges</command> and <command>dpkg-"
338 "buildpackage</command> will include the original source tar file if and only "
339 "if the Debian revision part of the source version number is 0 or 1, "
340 "indicating a new upstream version. This behavior may be modified by using "
341 "<literal>-sa</literal> to always include it or <literal>-sd</literal> to "
342 "always leave it out."
345 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
348 "If no original source is included in the upload, the original source tar-"
349 "file used by <command>dpkg-source</command> when constructing the <filename>."
350 "dsc</filename> file and diff to be uploaded <emphasis>must</emphasis> be "
351 "byte-for-byte identical with the one already in the archive."
354 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
357 "Please notice that, in non-native packages, permissions on files that are "
358 "not present in the .orig.tar.gz will not be preserved, as diff does not "
359 "store file permissions in the patch."
362 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
364 msgid "Picking a distribution"
367 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
370 "Each upload needs to specify which distribution the package is intended "
371 "for. The package build process extracts this information from the first "
372 "line of the <filename>debian/changelog</filename> file and places it in the "
373 "<literal>Distribution</literal> field of the <literal>.changes</literal> "
377 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
380 "There are several possible values for this field: `stable', `unstable', "
381 "`testing-proposed-updates' and `experimental'. Normally, packages are "
382 "uploaded into <emphasis>unstable</emphasis>."
385 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
388 "Actually, there are two other possible distributions: `stable-security' and "
389 "`testing-security', but read <xref linkend=\"bug-security\"/> for more "
390 "information on those."
393 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
396 "It is not possible to upload a package into several distributions at the "
400 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
402 msgid "Special case: uploads to the <emphasis>stable</emphasis> distribution"
405 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
408 "Uploading to <emphasis>stable</emphasis> means that the package will "
409 "transfered to the <emphasis>p-u-new</emphasis>-queue for review by the "
410 "stable release managers, and if approved will be installed in "
411 "<filename>stable-proposed-updates</filename> directory of the Debian "
412 "archive. From there, it will be included in <emphasis>stable</emphasis> "
413 "with the next point release."
416 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
419 "Extra care should be taken when uploading to <emphasis>stable</emphasis>. "
420 "Basically, a package should only be uploaded to stable if one of the "
424 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
426 msgid "a truly critical functionality problem"
429 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
431 msgid "the package becomes uninstallable"
434 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
436 msgid "a released architecture lacks the package"
439 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
442 "In the past, uploads to <emphasis>stable</emphasis> were used to address "
443 "security problems as well. However, this practice is deprecated, as uploads "
444 "used for Debian security advisories are automatically copied to the "
445 "appropriate <filename>proposed-updates</filename> archive when the advisory "
446 "is released. See <xref linkend=\"bug-security\"/> for detailed information "
447 "on handling security problems."
450 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
453 "Changing anything else in the package that isn't important is discouraged, "
454 "because even trivial fixes can cause bugs later on."
457 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
460 "Packages uploaded to <emphasis>stable</emphasis> need to be compiled on "
461 "systems running <emphasis>stable</emphasis>, so that their dependencies are "
462 "limited to the libraries (and other packages) available in <emphasis>stable</"
463 "emphasis>; for example, a package uploaded to <emphasis>stable</emphasis> "
464 "that depends on a library package that only exists in unstable will be "
465 "rejected. Making changes to dependencies of other packages (by messing with "
466 "<literal>Provides</literal> or shlibs files), possibly making those other "
467 "packages uninstallable, is strongly discouraged."
470 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
473 "The Release Team (which can be reached at &email-debian-release;) will "
474 "regularly evaluate the uploads To <emphasis>stable-proposed-updates</"
475 "emphasis> and decide if your package can be included in <emphasis>stable</"
476 "emphasis>. Please be clear (and verbose, if necessary) in your changelog "
477 "entries for uploads to <emphasis>stable</emphasis>, because otherwise the "
478 "package won't be considered for inclusion."
481 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
484 "It's best practice to speak with the stable release manager "
485 "<emphasis>before</emphasis> uploading to <emphasis>stable</emphasis>/"
486 "<emphasis>stable-proposed-updates</emphasis>, so that the uploaded package "
487 "fits the needs of the next point release."
490 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
493 "Special case: uploads to <emphasis>testing/testing-proposed-updates</"
497 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
500 "Please see the information in the <link linkend=\"t-p-u\">testing section</"
504 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
506 msgid "Uploading a package"
509 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
511 msgid "Uploading to <literal>ftp-master</literal>"
514 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
517 "To upload a package, you should upload the files (including the signed "
518 "changes and dsc-file) with anonymous ftp to <literal>&ftp-master-host;</"
519 "literal> in the directory <ulink url=\"ftp://&ftp-master-host;&upload-queue;"
520 "\">&upload-queue;</ulink>. To get the files processed there, they need to "
521 "be signed with a key in the debian keyring."
524 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
527 "Please note that you should transfer the changes file last. Otherwise, your "
528 "upload may be rejected because the archive maintenance software will parse "
529 "the changes file and see that not all files have been uploaded."
532 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
535 "You may also find the Debian packages <xref linkend=\"dupload\"/> or <xref "
536 "linkend=\"dput\"/> useful when uploading packages. These handy programs "
537 "help automate the process of uploading packages into Debian."
540 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
543 "For removing packages, please see the README file in that ftp directory, and "
544 "the Debian package <xref linkend=\"dcut\"/> ."
547 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
549 msgid "Uploading to <literal>non-US</literal>"
552 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
555 "<emphasis>Note:</emphasis> non-us was discontinued with the release of sarge."
558 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
560 msgid "Delayed uploads"
563 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
566 "Delayed uploads are done for the moment via the delayed queue at gluck. The "
567 "upload-directory is <literal>gluck:~tfheen/DELAYED/[012345678]-day</"
568 "literal>. 0-day is uploaded multiple times per day to ftp-master."
571 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
573 msgid "With a fairly recent dput, this section"
576 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><screen>
582 "fqdn = gluck.debian.org\n"
586 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
588 msgid "in ~/.dput.cf should work fine for uploading to the DELAYED queue."
591 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
594 "<emphasis>Note:</emphasis> Since this upload queue goes to <literal>ftp-"
595 "master</literal>, the prescription found in <xref linkend=\"upload-ftp-master"
596 "\"/> applies here as well."
599 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
601 msgid "Security uploads"
604 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
607 "Do <emphasis role=\"strong\">NOT</emphasis> upload a package to the security "
608 "upload queue (oldstable-security, stable-security, etc.) without prior "
609 "authorization from the security team. If the package does not exactly meet "
610 "the team's requirements, it will cause many problems and delays in dealing "
611 "with the unwanted upload. For details, please see section <xref linkend="
612 "\"bug-security\"/> ."
615 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
617 msgid "Other upload queues"
620 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
623 "The scp queues on ftp-master, and security are mostly unusable due to the "
624 "login restrictions on those hosts."
627 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
630 "The anonymous queues on ftp.uni-erlangen.de and ftp.uk.debian.org are "
631 "currently down. Work is underway to resurrect them."
634 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
637 "The queues on master.debian.org, samosa.debian.org, master.debian.or.jp, and "
638 "ftp.chiark.greenend.org.uk are down permanently, and will not be "
639 "resurrected. The queue in Japan will be replaced with a new queue on hp."
640 "debian.or.jp some day."
643 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
646 "For the time being, the anonymous ftp queue on auric.debian.org (the former "
647 "ftp-master) works, but it is deprecated and will be removed at some point in "
651 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
653 msgid "Notification that a new package has been installed"
656 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
659 "The Debian archive maintainers are responsible for handling package "
660 "uploads. For the most part, uploads are automatically handled on a daily "
661 "basis by the archive maintenance tools, <command>katie</command>. "
662 "Specifically, updates to existing packages to the `unstable' distribution "
663 "are handled automatically. In other cases, notably new packages, placing "
664 "the uploaded package into the distribution is handled manually. When "
665 "uploads are handled manually, the change to the archive may take up to a "
666 "month to occur. Please be patient."
669 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
672 "In any case, you will receive an email notification indicating that the "
673 "package has been added to the archive, which also indicates which bugs will "
674 "be closed by the upload. Please examine this notification carefully, "
675 "checking if any bugs you meant to close didn't get triggered."
678 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
681 "The installation notification also includes information on what section the "
682 "package was inserted into. If there is a disparity, you will receive a "
683 "separate email notifying you of that. Read on below."
686 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
689 "Note that if you upload via queues, the queue daemon software will also send "
690 "you a notification by email."
693 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
695 msgid "Specifying the package section, subsection and priority"
698 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
701 "The <filename>debian/control</filename> file's <literal>Section</literal> "
702 "and <literal>Priority</literal> fields do not actually specify where the "
703 "file will be placed in the archive, nor its priority. In order to retain "
704 "the overall integrity of the archive, it is the archive maintainers who have "
705 "control over these fields. The values in the <filename>debian/control</"
706 "filename> file are actually just hints."
709 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
712 "The archive maintainers keep track of the canonical sections and priorities "
713 "for packages in the <emphasis>override file</emphasis>. If there is a "
714 "disparity between the <emphasis>override file</emphasis> and the package's "
715 "fields as indicated in <filename>debian/control</filename>, then you will "
716 "receive an email noting the divergence when the package is installed into "
717 "the archive. You can either correct your <filename>debian/control</"
718 "filename> file for your next upload, or else you may wish to make a change "
719 "in the <emphasis>override file</emphasis>."
722 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
725 "To alter the actual section that a package is put in, you need to first make "
726 "sure that the <filename>debian/control</filename> file in your package is "
727 "accurate. Next, send an email &email-override; or submit a bug against "
728 "<systemitem role=\"package\">ftp.debian.org</systemitem> requesting that the "
729 "section or priority for your package be changed from the old section or "
730 "priority to the new one. Be sure to explain your reasoning."
733 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
736 "For more information about <emphasis>override files</emphasis>, see "
737 "<citerefentry> <refentrytitle>dpkg-scanpackages</refentrytitle> "
738 "<manvolnum>1</manvolnum> </citerefentry> and <ulink url=\"&url-bts-devel;"
739 "#maintincorrect\"></ulink>."
742 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
745 "Note that the <literal>Section</literal> field describes both the section as "
746 "well as the subsection, which are described in <xref linkend=\"archive-"
747 "sections\"/> . If the section is main, it should be omitted. The list of "
748 "allowable subsections can be found in <ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;ch-"
749 "archive.html#s-subsections\"></ulink>."
752 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
754 msgid "Handling bugs"
757 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
760 "Every developer has to be able to work with the Debian <ulink url=\"&url-bts;"
761 "\">bug tracking system</ulink>. This includes knowing how to file bug "
762 "reports properly (see <xref linkend=\"submit-bug\"/> ), how to update them "
763 "and reorder them, and how to process and close them."
766 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
769 "The bug tracking system's features are described in the <ulink url=\"&url-"
770 "bts-devel;\">BTS documentation for developers</ulink>. This includes "
771 "closing bugs, sending followup messages, assigning severities and tags, "
772 "marking bugs as forwarded, and other issues."
775 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
778 "Operations such as reassigning bugs to other packages, merging separate bug "
779 "reports about the same issue, or reopening bugs when they are prematurely "
780 "closed, are handled using the so-called control mail server. All of the "
781 "commands available on this server are described in the <ulink url=\"&url-bts-"
782 "control;\">BTS control server documentation</ulink>."
785 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
787 msgid "Monitoring bugs"
790 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
793 "If you want to be a good maintainer, you should periodically check the "
794 "<ulink url=\"&url-bts;\">Debian bug tracking system (BTS)</ulink> for your "
795 "packages. The BTS contains all the open bugs against your packages. You "
796 "can check them by browsing this page: <literal>http://&bugs-host;/"
797 "<replaceable>yourlogin</replaceable>@debian.org</literal>."
800 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
803 "Maintainers interact with the BTS via email addresses at <literal>&bugs-host;"
804 "</literal>. Documentation on available commands can be found at <ulink url="
805 "\"&url-bts;\"></ulink>, or, if you have installed the <systemitem role="
806 "\"package\">doc-debian</systemitem> package, you can look at the local files "
810 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
813 "Some find it useful to get periodic reports on open bugs. You can add a "
814 "cron job such as the following if you want to get a weekly email outlining "
815 "all the open bugs against your packages:"
818 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><screen>
822 "# ask for weekly reports of bugs in my packages\n"
826 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
829 "Replace <replaceable>address</replaceable> with your official Debian "
830 "maintainer address."
833 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
835 msgid "Responding to bugs"
838 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
841 "When responding to bugs, make sure that any discussion you have about bugs "
842 "is sent both to the original submitter of the bug, and to the bug itself (e."
843 "g., <email>123@&bugs-host;</email>). If you're writing a new mail and you "
844 "don't remember the submitter email address, you can use the <email>123-"
845 "submitter@&bugs-host;</email> email to contact the submitter <emphasis>and</"
846 "emphasis> to record your mail within the bug log (that means you don't need "
847 "to send a copy of the mail to <email>123@&bugs-host;</email>)."
850 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
853 "If you get a bug which mentions FTBFS, this means Fails to build from "
854 "source. Porters frequently use this acronym."
857 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
860 "Once you've dealt with a bug report (e.g. fixed it), mark it as "
861 "<emphasis>done</emphasis> (close it) by sending an explanation message to "
862 "<email>123-done@&bugs-host;</email>. If you're fixing a bug by changing and "
863 "uploading the package, you can automate bug closing as described in <xref "
864 "linkend=\"upload-bugfix\"/> ."
867 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
870 "You should <emphasis>never</emphasis> close bugs via the bug server "
871 "<literal>close</literal> command sent to &email-bts-control;. If you do so, "
872 "the original submitter will not receive any information about why the bug "
876 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
878 msgid "Bug housekeeping"
881 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
884 "As a package maintainer, you will often find bugs in other packages or have "
885 "bugs reported against your packages which are actually bugs in other "
886 "packages. The bug tracking system's features are described in the <ulink "
887 "url=\"&url-bts-devel;\">BTS documentation for Debian developers</ulink>. "
888 "Operations such as reassigning, merging, and tagging bug reports are "
889 "described in the <ulink url=\"&url-bts-control;\">BTS control server "
890 "documentation</ulink>. This section contains some guidelines for managing "
891 "your own bugs, based on the collective Debian developer experience."
894 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
897 "Filing bugs for problems that you find in other packages is one of the civic "
898 "obligations of maintainership, see <xref linkend=\"submit-bug\"/> for "
899 "details. However, handling the bugs in your own packages is even more "
903 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
905 msgid "Here's a list of steps that you may follow to handle a bug report:"
908 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
911 "Decide whether the report corresponds to a real bug or not. Sometimes users "
912 "are just calling a program in the wrong way because they haven't read the "
913 "documentation. If you diagnose this, just close the bug with enough "
914 "information to let the user correct their problem (give pointers to the good "
915 "documentation and so on). If the same report comes up again and again you "
916 "may ask yourself if the documentation is good enough or if the program "
917 "shouldn't detect its misuse in order to give an informative error message. "
918 "This is an issue that may need to be brought up with the upstream author."
921 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
924 "If the bug submitter disagrees with your decision to close the bug, they may "
925 "reopen it until you find an agreement on how to handle it. If you don't "
926 "find any, you may want to tag the bug <literal>wontfix</literal> to let "
927 "people know that the bug exists but that it won't be corrected. If this "
928 "situation is unacceptable, you (or the submitter) may want to require a "
929 "decision of the technical committee by reassigning the bug to <systemitem "
930 "role=\"package\">tech-ctte</systemitem> (you may use the clone command of "
931 "the BTS if you wish to keep it reported against your package). Before doing "
932 "so, please read the <ulink url=\"&url-tech-ctte;\">recommended procedure</"
936 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
939 "If the bug is real but it's caused by another package, just reassign the bug "
940 "to the right package. If you don't know which package it should be "
941 "reassigned to, you should ask for help on <link linkend=\"irc-channels"
942 "\">IRC</link> or on &email-debian-devel;. Please make sure that the "
943 "maintainer(s) of the package the bug is reassigned to know why you "
947 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
950 "Sometimes you also have to adjust the severity of the bug so that it matches "
951 "our definition of the severity. That's because people tend to inflate the "
952 "severity of bugs to make sure their bugs are fixed quickly. Some bugs may "
953 "even be dropped to wishlist severity when the requested change is just "
957 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
960 "If the bug is real but the same problem has already been reported by someone "
961 "else, then the two relevant bug reports should be merged into one using the "
962 "merge command of the BTS. In this way, when the bug is fixed, all of the "
963 "submitters will be informed of this. (Note, however, that emails sent to "
964 "one bug report's submitter won't automatically be sent to the other report's "
965 "submitter.) For more details on the technicalities of the merge command and "
966 "its relative, the unmerge command, see the BTS control server documentation."
969 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
972 "The bug submitter may have forgotten to provide some information, in which "
973 "case you have to ask them for the required information. You may use the "
974 "<literal>moreinfo</literal> tag to mark the bug as such. Moreover if you "
975 "can't reproduce the bug, you tag it <literal>unreproducible</literal>. "
976 "Anyone who can reproduce the bug is then invited to provide more information "
977 "on how to reproduce it. After a few months, if this information has not "
978 "been sent by someone, the bug may be closed."
981 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
984 "If the bug is related to the packaging, you just fix it. If you are not "
985 "able to fix it yourself, then tag the bug as <literal>help</literal>. You "
986 "can also ask for help on &email-debian-devel; or &email-debian-qa;. If it's "
987 "an upstream problem, you have to forward it to the upstream author. "
988 "Forwarding a bug is not enough, you have to check at each release if the bug "
989 "has been fixed or not. If it has, you just close it, otherwise you have to "
990 "remind the author about it. If you have the required skills you can prepare "
991 "a patch that fixes the bug and send it to the author at the same time. Make "
992 "sure to send the patch to the BTS and to tag the bug as <literal>patch</"
996 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
999 "If you have fixed a bug in your local copy, or if a fix has been committed "
1000 "to the CVS repository, you may tag the bug as <literal>pending</literal> to "
1001 "let people know that the bug is corrected and that it will be closed with "
1002 "the next upload (add the <literal>closes:</literal> in the "
1003 "<filename>changelog</filename>). This is particularly useful if you are "
1004 "several developers working on the same package."
1007 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1010 "Once a corrected package is available in the <emphasis>unstable</emphasis> "
1011 "distribution, you can close the bug. This can be done automatically, read "
1012 "<xref linkend=\"upload-bugfix\"/> ."
1015 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1017 msgid "When bugs are closed by new uploads"
1020 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1023 "As bugs and problems are fixed in your packages, it is your responsibility "
1024 "as the package maintainer to close these bugs. However, you should not "
1025 "close a bug until the package which fixes the bug has been accepted into the "
1026 "Debian archive. Therefore, once you get notification that your updated "
1027 "package has been installed into the archive, you can and should close the "
1028 "bug in the BTS. Also, the bug should be closed with the correct version."
1031 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1034 "However, it's possible to avoid having to manually close bugs after the "
1035 "upload — just list the fixed bugs in your <filename>debian/changelog</"
1036 "filename> file, following a certain syntax, and the archive maintenance "
1037 "software will close the bugs for you. For example:"
1040 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><screen>
1044 "acme-cannon (3.1415) unstable; urgency=low\n"
1046 " * Frobbed with options (closes: Bug#98339)\n"
1047 " * Added safety to prevent operator dismemberment, closes: bug#98765,\n"
1048 " bug#98713, #98714.\n"
1049 " * Added man page. Closes: #98725."
1052 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1055 "Technically speaking, the following Perl regular expression describes how "
1056 "bug closing changelogs are identified:"
1059 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><screen>
1062 msgid "/closes:\\s*(?:bug)?\\#\\s*\\d+(?:,\\s*(?:bug)?\\#\\s*\\d+)*/ig"
1065 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1068 "We prefer the <literal>closes: #<replaceable>XXX</replaceable></literal> "
1069 "syntax, as it is the most concise entry and the easiest to integrate with "
1070 "the text of the <filename>changelog</filename>. Unless specified different "
1071 "by the <replaceable>-v</replaceable>-switch to <command>dpkg-buildpackage</"
1072 "command>, only the bugs closed in the most recent changelog entry are closed "
1073 "(basically, exactly the bugs mentioned in the changelog-part in the "
1074 "<filename>.changes</filename> file are closed)."
1077 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1080 "Historically, uploads identified as <link linkend=\"nmu\">Non-maintainer "
1081 "upload (NMU)</link> were tagged <literal>fixed</literal> instead of being "
1082 "closed, but that practice was ceased with the advent of version-tracking. "
1083 "The same applied to the tag <literal>fixed-in-experimental</literal>."
1086 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1089 "If you happen to mistype a bug number or forget a bug in the changelog "
1090 "entries, don't hesitate to undo any damage the error caused. To reopen "
1091 "wrongly closed bugs, send a <literal>reopen <replaceable>XXX</replaceable></"
1092 "literal> command to the bug tracking system's control address, &email-bts-"
1093 "control;. To close any remaining bugs that were fixed by your upload, email "
1094 "the <filename>.changes</filename> file to <email>XXX-done@&bugs-host;</"
1095 "email>, where <replaceable>XXX</replaceable> is the bug number, and put "
1096 "Version: YYY and an empty line as the first two lines of the body of the "
1097 "email, where <replaceable>YYY</replaceable> is the first version where the "
1098 "bug has been fixed."
1101 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1104 "Bear in mind that it is not obligatory to close bugs using the changelog as "
1105 "described above. If you simply want to close bugs that don't have anything "
1106 "to do with an upload you made, do it by emailing an explanation to "
1107 "<email>XXX-done@&bugs-host;</email>. Do <emphasis role=\"strong\">not</"
1108 "emphasis> close bugs in the changelog entry of a version if the changes in "
1109 "that version of the package don't have any bearing on the bug."
1112 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1115 "For general information on how to write your changelog entries, see <xref "
1116 "linkend=\"bpp-debian-changelog\"/> ."
1119 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1121 msgid "Handling security-related bugs"
1124 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1127 "Due to their sensitive nature, security-related bugs must be handled "
1128 "carefully. The Debian Security Team exists to coordinate this activity, "
1129 "keeping track of outstanding security problems, helping maintainers with "
1130 "security problems or fixing them themselves, sending security advisories, "
1131 "and maintaining security.debian.org."
1134 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1137 "When you become aware of a security-related bug in a Debian package, whether "
1138 "or not you are the maintainer, collect pertinent information about the "
1139 "problem, and promptly contact the security team at &email-security-team; as "
1140 "soon as possible. <emphasis role=\"strong\">DO NOT UPLOAD</emphasis> any "
1141 "packages for stable; the security team will do that. Useful information "
1142 "includes, for example:"
1145 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1148 "Which versions of the package are known to be affected by the bug. Check "
1149 "each version that is present in a supported Debian release, as well as "
1150 "testing and unstable."
1153 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1156 "The nature of the fix, if any is available (patches are especially helpful)"
1159 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1162 "Any fixed packages that you have prepared yourself (send only the <literal>."
1163 "diff.gz</literal> and <literal>.dsc</literal> files and read <xref linkend="
1164 "\"bug-security-building\"/> first)"
1167 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1170 "Any assistance you can provide to help with testing (exploits, regression "
1174 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1177 "Any information needed for the advisory (see <xref linkend=\"bug-security-"
1181 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
1183 msgid "Confidentiality"
1186 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1189 "Unlike most other activities within Debian, information about security "
1190 "issues must sometimes be kept private for a time. This allows software "
1191 "distributors to coordinate their disclosure in order to minimize their "
1192 "users' exposure. Whether this is the case depends on the nature of the "
1193 "problem and corresponding fix, and whether it is already a matter of public "
1197 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1199 msgid "There are several ways developers can learn of a security problem:"
1202 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1204 msgid "they notice it on a public forum (mailing list, web site, etc.)"
1207 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1209 msgid "someone files a bug report"
1212 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1214 msgid "someone informs them via private email"
1217 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1220 "In the first two cases, the information is public and it is important to "
1221 "have a fix as soon as possible. In the last case, however, it might not be "
1222 "public information. In that case there are a few possible options for "
1223 "dealing with the problem:"
1226 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1229 "If the security exposure is minor, there is sometimes no need to keep the "
1230 "problem a secret and a fix should be made and released."
1233 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1236 "If the problem is severe, it is preferable to share the information with "
1237 "other vendors and coordinate a release. The security team keeps in contact "
1238 "with the various organizations and individuals and can take care of that."
1241 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1244 "In all cases if the person who reports the problem asks that it not be "
1245 "disclosed, such requests should be honored, with the obvious exception of "
1246 "informing the security team in order that a fix may be produced for a stable "
1247 "release of Debian. When sending confidential information to the security "
1248 "team, be sure to mention this fact."
1251 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1254 "Please note that if secrecy is needed you may not upload a fix to unstable "
1255 "(or anywhere else, such as a public CVS repository). It is not sufficient "
1256 "to obfuscate the details of the change, as the code itself is public, and "
1257 "can (and will) be examined by the general public."
1260 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1263 "There are two reasons for releasing information even though secrecy is "
1264 "requested: the problem has been known for a while, or the problem or exploit "
1265 "has become public."
1268 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
1270 msgid "Security Advisories"
1273 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1276 "Security advisories are only issued for the current, released stable "
1277 "distribution, and <emphasis>not</emphasis> for testing or unstable. When "
1278 "released, advisories are sent to the &email-debian-security-announce; "
1279 "mailing list and posted on <ulink url=\"&url-debian-security-advisories;"
1280 "\">the security web page</ulink>. Security advisories are written and "
1281 "posted by the security team. However they certainly do not mind if a "
1282 "maintainer can supply some of the information for them, or write part of the "
1283 "text. Information that should be in an advisory includes:"
1286 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1288 msgid "A description of the problem and its scope, including:"
1291 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1293 msgid "The type of problem (privilege escalation, denial of service, etc.)"
1296 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1298 msgid "What privileges may be gained, and by whom (if any)"
1301 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1303 msgid "How it can be exploited"
1306 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1308 msgid "Whether it is remotely or locally exploitable"
1311 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1313 msgid "How the problem was fixed"
1316 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1318 msgid "This information allows users to assess the threat to their systems."
1321 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1323 msgid "Version numbers of affected packages"
1326 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1328 msgid "Version numbers of fixed packages"
1331 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1334 "Information on where to obtain the updated packages (usually from the Debian "
1338 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1341 "References to upstream advisories, <ulink url=\"http://cve.mitre.org\">CVE</"
1342 "ulink> identifiers, and any other information useful in cross-referencing "
1346 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
1348 msgid "Preparing packages to address security issues"
1351 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1354 "One way that you can assist the security team in their duties is to provide "
1355 "them with fixed packages suitable for a security advisory for the stable "
1359 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1362 "When an update is made to the stable release, care must be taken to avoid "
1363 "changing system behavior or introducing new bugs. In order to do this, make "
1364 "as few changes as possible to fix the bug. Users and administrators rely on "
1365 "the exact behavior of a release once it is made, so any change that is made "
1366 "might break someone's system. This is especially true of libraries: make "
1367 "sure you never change the API or ABI, no matter how small the change."
1370 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1373 "This means that moving to a new upstream version is not a good solution. "
1374 "Instead, the relevant changes should be back-ported to the version present "
1375 "in the current stable Debian release. Generally, upstream maintainers are "
1376 "willing to help if needed. If not, the Debian security team may be able to "
1380 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1383 "In some cases, it is not possible to back-port a security fix, for example "
1384 "when large amounts of source code need to be modified or rewritten. If this "
1385 "happens, it may be necessary to move to a new upstream version. However, "
1386 "this is only done in extreme situations, and you must always coordinate that "
1387 "with the security team beforehand."
1390 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1393 "Related to this is another important guideline: always test your changes. "
1394 "If you have an exploit available, try it and see if it indeed succeeds on "
1395 "the unpatched package and fails on the fixed package. Test other, normal "
1396 "actions as well, as sometimes a security fix can break seemingly unrelated "
1397 "features in subtle ways."
1400 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1403 "Do <emphasis role=\"strong\">NOT</emphasis> include any changes in your "
1404 "package which are not directly related to fixing the vulnerability. These "
1405 "will only need to be reverted, and this wastes time. If there are other "
1406 "bugs in your package that you would like to fix, make an upload to proposed-"
1407 "updates in the usual way, after the security advisory is issued. The "
1408 "security update mechanism is not a means for introducing changes to your "
1409 "package which would otherwise be rejected from the stable release, so please "
1410 "do not attempt to do this."
1413 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1416 "Review and test your changes as much as possible. Check the differences "
1417 "from the previous version repeatedly (<command>interdiff</command> from the "
1418 "<systemitem role=\"package\">patchutils</systemitem> package and "
1419 "<command>debdiff</command> from <systemitem role=\"package\">devscripts</"
1420 "systemitem> are useful tools for this, see <xref linkend=\"debdiff\"/> )."
1423 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1425 msgid "Be sure to verify the following items:"
1428 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1431 "Target the right distribution in your <filename>debian/changelog</"
1432 "filename>. For stable this is <literal>stable-security</literal> and for "
1433 "testing this is <literal>testing-security</literal>, and for the previous "
1434 "stable release, this is <literal>oldstable-security</literal>. Do not "
1435 "target <replaceable>distribution</replaceable>-proposed-updates or "
1436 "<literal>stable</literal>!"
1439 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1441 msgid "The upload should have urgency=high."
1444 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1447 "Make descriptive, meaningful changelog entries. Others will rely on them to "
1448 "determine whether a particular bug was fixed. Always include an external "
1449 "reference, preferably a CVE identifier, so that it can be cross-referenced. "
1450 "Include the same information in the changelog for unstable, so that it is "
1451 "clear that the same bug was fixed, as this is very helpful when verifying "
1452 "that the bug is fixed in the next stable release. If a CVE identifier has "
1453 "not yet been assigned, the security team will request one so that it can be "
1454 "included in the package and in the advisory."
1457 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1460 "Make sure the version number is proper. It must be greater than the current "
1461 "package, but less than package versions in later distributions. If in "
1462 "doubt, test it with <literal>dpkg --compare-versions</literal>. Be careful "
1463 "not to re-use a version number that you have already used for a previous "
1464 "upload. For <emphasis>testing</emphasis>, there must be a higher version in "
1465 "<emphasis>unstable</emphasis>. If there is none yet (for example, if "
1466 "<emphasis>testing</emphasis> and <emphasis>unstable</emphasis> have the same "
1467 "version) you must upload a new version to unstable first."
1470 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1473 "Do not make source-only uploads if your package has any binary-all packages "
1474 "(do not use the <literal>-S</literal> option to <command>dpkg-buildpackage</"
1475 "command>). The <command>buildd</command> infrastructure will not build "
1476 "those. This point applies to normal package uploads as well."
1479 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1482 "Unless the upstream source has been uploaded to security.debian.org before "
1483 "(by a previous security update), build the upload with full upstream source "
1484 "(<literal>dpkg-buildpackage -sa</literal>). If there has been a previous "
1485 "upload to security.debian.org with the same upstream version, you may upload "
1486 "without upstream source (<literal>dpkg-buildpackage -sd</literal>)."
1489 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1492 "Be sure to use the exact same <filename>*.orig.tar.gz</filename> as used in "
1493 "the normal archive, otherwise it is not possible to move the security fix "
1494 "into the main archives later."
1497 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
1500 "Build the package on a clean system which only has packages installed from "
1501 "the distribution you are building for. If you do not have such a system "
1502 "yourself, you can use a debian.org machine (see <xref linkend=\"server-"
1503 "machines\"/> ) or setup a chroot (see <xref linkend=\"pbuilder\"/> and <xref "
1504 "linkend=\"debootstrap\"/> )."
1507 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
1509 msgid "Uploading the fixed package"
1512 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1515 "Do <emphasis role=\"strong\">NOT</emphasis> upload a package to the security "
1516 "upload queue (oldstable-security, stable-security, etc.) without prior "
1517 "authorization from the security team. If the package does not exactly meet "
1518 "the team's requirements, it will cause many problems and delays in dealing "
1519 "with the unwanted upload."
1522 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1525 "Do <emphasis role=\"strong\">NOT</emphasis> upload your fix to proposed-"
1526 "updates without coordinating with the security team. Packages from security."
1527 "debian.org will be copied into the proposed-updates directory "
1528 "automatically. If a package with the same or a higher version number is "
1529 "already installed into the archive, the security update will be rejected by "
1530 "the archive system. That way, the stable distribution will end up without a "
1531 "security update for this package instead."
1534 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1537 "Once you have created and tested the new package and it has been approved by "
1538 "the security team, it needs to be uploaded so that it can be installed in "
1539 "the archives. For security uploads, the place to upload to is "
1540 "<literal>ftp://security-master.debian.org/pub/SecurityUploadQueue/</"
1544 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1547 "Once an upload to the security queue has been accepted, the package will "
1548 "automatically be rebuilt for all architectures and stored for verification "
1549 "by the security team."
1552 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1555 "Uploads which are waiting for acceptance or verification are only accessible "
1556 "by the security team. This is necessary since there might be fixes for "
1557 "security problems that cannot be disclosed yet."
1560 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1563 "If a member of the security team accepts a package, it will be installed on "
1564 "security.debian.org as well as proposed for the proper "
1565 "<replaceable>distribution</replaceable>-proposed-updates on ftp-master."
1568 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
1570 msgid "Moving, removing, renaming, adopting, and orphaning packages"
1573 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
1576 "Some archive manipulation operations are not automated in the Debian upload "
1577 "process. These procedures should be manually followed by maintainers. This "
1578 "chapter gives guidelines on what to do in these cases."
1581 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1583 msgid "Moving packages"
1586 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para><footnote>
1589 "Sometimes a package will change its section. For instance, a package from "
1590 "the `non-free' section might be GPL'd in a later version, in which case the "
1591 "package should be moved to `main' or `contrib'.<footnote>"
1594 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para><footnote><para>
1597 "See the <ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;\">Debian Policy Manual</ulink> for "
1598 "guidelines on what section a package belongs in."
1601 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1604 "If you need to change the section for one of your packages, change the "
1605 "package control information to place the package in the desired section, and "
1606 "re-upload the package (see the <ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;\">Debian "
1607 "Policy Manual</ulink> for details). You must ensure that you include the "
1608 "<filename>.orig.tar.gz</filename> in your upload (even if you are not "
1609 "uploading a new upstream version), or it will not appear in the new section "
1610 "together with the rest of the package. If your new section is valid, it "
1611 "will be moved automatically. If it does not, then contact the ftpmasters in "
1612 "order to understand what happened."
1615 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1618 "If, on the other hand, you need to change the <emphasis>subsection</"
1619 "emphasis> of one of your packages (e.g., ``devel'', ``admin''), the "
1620 "procedure is slightly different. Correct the subsection as found in the "
1621 "control file of the package, and re-upload that. Also, you'll need to get "
1622 "the override file updated, as described in <xref linkend=\"override-file\"/"
1626 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1628 msgid "Removing packages"
1631 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1634 "If for some reason you want to completely remove a package (say, if it is an "
1635 "old compatibility library which is no longer required), you need to file a "
1636 "bug against <literal>ftp.debian.org</literal> asking that the package be "
1637 "removed; as all bugs, this bug should normally have normal severity. Make "
1638 "sure you indicate which distribution the package should be removed from. "
1639 "Normally, you can only have packages removed from <emphasis>unstable</"
1640 "emphasis> and <emphasis>experimental</emphasis>. Packages are not removed "
1641 "from <emphasis>testing</emphasis> directly. Rather, they will be removed "
1642 "automatically after the package has been removed from <emphasis>unstable</"
1643 "emphasis> and no package in <emphasis>testing</emphasis> depends on it."
1646 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1649 "There is one exception when an explicit removal request is not necessary: If "
1650 "a (source or binary) package is an orphan, it will be removed semi-"
1651 "automatically. For a binary-package, this means if there is no longer any "
1652 "source package producing this binary package; if the binary package is just "
1653 "no longer produced on some architectures, a removal request is still "
1654 "necessary. For a source-package, this means that all binary packages it "
1655 "refers to have been taken over by another source package."
1658 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1661 "In your removal request, you have to detail the reasons justifying the "
1662 "request. This is to avoid unwanted removals and to keep a trace of why a "
1663 "package has been removed. For example, you can provide the name of the "
1664 "package that supersedes the one to be removed."
1667 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1670 "Usually you only ask for the removal of a package maintained by yourself. "
1671 "If you want to remove another package, you have to get the approval of its "
1675 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1678 "Further information relating to these and other package removal related "
1679 "topics may be found at <ulink url=\"http://wiki.debian.org/ftpmaster_Removals"
1680 "\"></ulink> and <ulink url=\"&url-debian-qa;howto-remove.html\"></ulink>."
1683 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1686 "If in doubt concerning whether a package is disposable, email &email-debian-"
1687 "devel; asking for opinions. Also of interest is the <command>apt-cache</"
1688 "command> program from the <systemitem role=\"package\">apt</systemitem> "
1689 "package. When invoked as <literal>apt-cache showpkg <replaceable>package</"
1690 "replaceable></literal>, the program will show details for "
1691 "<replaceable>package</replaceable>, including reverse depends. Other useful "
1692 "programs include <literal>apt-cache rdepends</literal>, <command>apt-"
1693 "rdepends</command> and <command>grep-dctrl</command>. Removal of orphaned "
1694 "packages is discussed on &email-debian-qa;."
1697 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1700 "Once the package has been removed, the package's bugs should be handled. "
1701 "They should either be reassigned to another package in the case where the "
1702 "actual code has evolved into another package (e.g. <literal>libfoo12</"
1703 "literal> was removed because <literal>libfoo13</literal> supersedes it) or "
1704 "closed if the software is simply no longer part of Debian."
1707 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
1709 msgid "Removing packages from <filename>Incoming</filename>"
1712 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
1715 "In the past, it was possible to remove packages from <filename>incoming</"
1716 "filename>. However, with the introduction of the new incoming system, this "
1717 "is no longer possible. Instead, you have to upload a new revision of your "
1718 "package with a higher version than the package you want to replace. Both "
1719 "versions will be installed in the archive but only the higher version will "
1720 "actually be available in <emphasis>unstable</emphasis> since the previous "
1721 "version will immediately be replaced by the higher. However, if you do "
1722 "proper testing of your packages, the need to replace a package should not "
1723 "occur too often anyway."
1726 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1728 msgid "Replacing or renaming packages"
1731 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1734 "When you make a mistake naming your package, you should follow a two-step "
1735 "process to rename it. First, set your <filename>debian/control</filename> "
1736 "file to replace and conflict with the obsolete name of the package (see the "
1737 "<ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;\">Debian Policy Manual</ulink> for "
1738 "details). Once you've uploaded the package and the package has moved into "
1739 "the archive, file a bug against <literal>ftp.debian.org</literal> asking to "
1740 "remove the package with the obsolete name. Do not forget to properly "
1741 "reassign the package's bugs at the same time."
1744 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1747 "At other times, you may make a mistake in constructing your package and wish "
1748 "to replace it. The only way to do this is to increase the version number "
1749 "and upload a new version. The old version will be expired in the usual "
1750 "manner. Note that this applies to each part of your package, including the "
1751 "sources: if you wish to replace the upstream source tarball of your package, "
1752 "you will need to upload it with a different version. An easy possibility is "
1753 "to replace <filename>foo_1.00.orig.tar.gz</filename> with <filename>foo_1.00"
1754 "+0.orig.tar.gz</filename>. This restriction gives each file on the ftp site "
1755 "a unique name, which helps to ensure consistency across the mirror network."
1758 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1760 msgid "Orphaning a package"
1763 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1766 "If you can no longer maintain a package, you need to inform others, and see "
1767 "that the package is marked as orphaned. You should set the package "
1768 "maintainer to <literal>Debian QA Group &orphan-address;</literal> and submit "
1769 "a bug report against the pseudo package <systemitem role=\"package\">wnpp</"
1770 "systemitem>. The bug report should be titled <literal>O: "
1771 "<replaceable>package</replaceable> -- <replaceable>short description</"
1772 "replaceable></literal> indicating that the package is now orphaned. The "
1773 "severity of the bug should be set to <emphasis>normal</emphasis>; if the "
1774 "package has a priority of standard or higher, it should be set to "
1775 "important. If you feel it's necessary, send a copy to &email-debian-devel; "
1776 "by putting the address in the X-Debbugs-CC: header of the message (no, don't "
1777 "use CC:, because that way the message's subject won't indicate the bug "
1781 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1784 "If you just intend to give the package away, but you can keep maintainership "
1785 "for the moment, then you should instead submit a bug against <systemitem "
1786 "role=\"package\">wnpp</systemitem> and title it <literal>RFA: "
1787 "<replaceable>package</replaceable> -- <replaceable>short description</"
1788 "replaceable></literal>. <literal>RFA</literal> stands for <emphasis>Request "
1789 "For Adoption</emphasis>."
1792 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1795 "More information is on the <ulink url=\"&url-wnpp;\">WNPP web pages</ulink>."
1798 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1800 msgid "Adopting a package"
1803 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1806 "A list of packages in need of a new maintainer is available in the <ulink "
1807 "url=\"&url-wnpp;\">Work-Needing and Prospective Packages list (WNPP)</"
1808 "ulink>. If you wish to take over maintenance of any of the packages listed "
1809 "in the WNPP, please take a look at the aforementioned page for information "
1813 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1816 "It is not OK to simply take over a package that you feel is neglected — that "
1817 "would be package hijacking. You can, of course, contact the current "
1818 "maintainer and ask them if you may take over the package. If you have "
1819 "reason to believe a maintainer has gone AWOL (absent without leave), see "
1820 "<xref linkend=\"mia-qa\"/> ."
1823 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1826 "Generally, you may not take over the package without the assent of the "
1827 "current maintainer. Even if they ignore you, that is still not grounds to "
1828 "take over a package. Complaints about maintainers should be brought up on "
1829 "the developers' mailing list. If the discussion doesn't end with a positive "
1830 "conclusion, and the issue is of a technical nature, consider bringing it to "
1831 "the attention of the technical committee (see the <ulink url=\"&url-tech-"
1832 "ctte;\">technical committee web page</ulink> for more information)."
1835 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1838 "If you take over an old package, you probably want to be listed as the "
1839 "package's official maintainer in the bug system. This will happen "
1840 "automatically once you upload a new version with an updated "
1841 "<literal>Maintainer:</literal> field, although it can take a few hours after "
1842 "the upload is done. If you do not expect to upload a new version for a "
1843 "while, you can use <xref linkend=\"pkg-tracking-system\"/> to get the bug "
1844 "reports. However, make sure that the old maintainer has no problem with the "
1845 "fact that they will continue to receive the bugs during that time."
1848 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
1850 msgid "Porting and being ported"
1853 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
1856 "Debian supports an ever-increasing number of architectures. Even if you are "
1857 "not a porter, and you don't use any architecture but one, it is part of your "
1858 "duty as a maintainer to be aware of issues of portability. Therefore, even "
1859 "if you are not a porter, you should read most of this chapter."
1862 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
1865 "Porting is the act of building Debian packages for architectures that are "
1866 "different from the original architecture of the package maintainer's binary "
1867 "package. It is a unique and essential activity. In fact, porters do most "
1868 "of the actual compiling of Debian packages. For instance, for a single "
1869 "<emphasis>i386</emphasis> binary package, there must be a recompile for each "
1870 "architecture, which amounts to &number-of-arches; more builds."
1873 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
1875 msgid "Being kind to porters"
1878 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1881 "Porters have a difficult and unique task, since they are required to deal "
1882 "with a large volume of packages. Ideally, every source package should build "
1883 "right out of the box. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. This "
1884 "section contains a checklist of ``gotchas'' often committed by Debian "
1885 "maintainers — common problems which often stymie porters, and make their "
1886 "jobs unnecessarily difficult."
1889 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1892 "The first and most important thing is to respond quickly to bug or issues "
1893 "raised by porters. Please treat porters with courtesy, as if they were in "
1894 "fact co-maintainers of your package (which, in a way, they are). Please be "
1895 "tolerant of succinct or even unclear bug reports; do your best to hunt down "
1896 "whatever the problem is."
1899 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
1902 "By far, most of the problems encountered by porters are caused by "
1903 "<emphasis>packaging bugs</emphasis> in the source packages. Here is a "
1904 "checklist of things you should check or be aware of."
1907 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1910 "Make sure that your <literal>Build-Depends</literal> and <literal>Build-"
1911 "Depends-Indep</literal> settings in <filename>debian/control</filename> are "
1912 "set properly. The best way to validate this is to use the <systemitem role="
1913 "\"package\">debootstrap</systemitem> package to create an unstable chroot "
1914 "environment (see <xref linkend=\"debootstrap\"/> ). Within that chrooted "
1915 "environment, install the <systemitem role=\"package\">build-essential</"
1916 "systemitem> package and any package dependencies mentioned in <literal>Build-"
1917 "Depends</literal> and/or <literal>Build-Depends-Indep</literal>. Finally, "
1918 "try building your package within that chrooted environment. These steps can "
1919 "be automated by the use of the <command>pbuilder</command> program which is "
1920 "provided by the package of the same name (see <xref linkend=\"pbuilder\"/> )."
1923 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1926 "If you can't set up a proper chroot, <command>dpkg-depcheck</command> may be "
1927 "of assistance (see <xref linkend=\"dpkg-depcheck\"/> )."
1930 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1933 "See the <ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;\">Debian Policy Manual</ulink> for "
1934 "instructions on setting build dependencies."
1937 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1940 "Don't set architecture to a value other than ``all'' or ``any'' unless you "
1941 "really mean it. In too many cases, maintainers don't follow the "
1942 "instructions in the <ulink url=\"&url-debian-policy;\">Debian Policy Manual</"
1943 "ulink>. Setting your architecture to ``i386'' is usually incorrect."
1946 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1949 "Make sure your source package is correct. Do <literal>dpkg-source -x "
1950 "<replaceable>package</replaceable>.dsc</literal> to make sure your source "
1951 "package unpacks properly. Then, in there, try building your package from "
1952 "scratch with <command>dpkg-buildpackage</command>."
1955 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1958 "Make sure you don't ship your source package with the <filename>debian/"
1959 "files</filename> or <filename>debian/substvars</filename> files. They "
1960 "should be removed by the `clean' target of <filename>debian/rules</filename>."
1963 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1966 "Make sure you don't rely on locally installed or hacked configurations or "
1967 "programs. For instance, you should never be calling programs in <filename>/"
1968 "usr/local/bin</filename> or the like. Try not to rely on programs being "
1969 "setup in a special way. Try building your package on another machine, even "
1970 "if it's the same architecture."
1973 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1976 "Don't depend on the package you're building being installed already (a sub-"
1977 "case of the above issue)."
1980 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1983 "Don't rely on the compiler being a certain version, if possible. If not, "
1984 "then make sure your build dependencies reflect the restrictions, although "
1985 "you are probably asking for trouble, since different architectures sometimes "
1986 "standardize on different compilers."
1989 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
1992 "Make sure your debian/rules contains separate ``binary-arch'' and ``binary-"
1993 "indep'' targets, as the Debian Policy Manual requires. Make sure that both "
1994 "targets work independently, that is, that you can call the target without "
1995 "having called the other before. To test this, try to run <literal>dpkg-"
1996 "buildpackage -B</literal>."
1999 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2001 msgid "Guidelines for porter uploads"
2004 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2007 "If the package builds out of the box for the architecture to be ported to, "
2008 "you are in luck and your job is easy. This section applies to that case; it "
2009 "describes how to build and upload your binary package so that it is properly "
2010 "installed into the archive. If you do have to patch the package in order to "
2011 "get it to compile for the other architecture, you are actually doing a "
2012 "source NMU, so consult <xref linkend=\"nmu-guidelines\"/> instead."
2015 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2018 "For a porter upload, no changes are being made to the source. You do not "
2019 "need to touch any of the files in the source package. This includes "
2020 "<filename>debian/changelog</filename>."
2023 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2026 "The way to invoke <command>dpkg-buildpackage</command> is as <literal>dpkg-"
2027 "buildpackage -B -m<replaceable>porter-email</replaceable></literal>. Of "
2028 "course, set <replaceable>porter-email</replaceable> to your email address. "
2029 "This will do a binary-only build of only the architecture-dependent portions "
2030 "of the package, using the `binary-arch' target in <filename>debian/rules</"
2034 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2037 "If you are working on a Debian machine for your porting efforts and you need "
2038 "to sign your upload locally for its acceptance in the archive, you can run "
2039 "<command>debsign</command> on your <filename>.changes</filename> file to "
2040 "have it signed conveniently, or use the remote signing mode of <command>dpkg-"
2044 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
2046 msgid "Recompilation or binary-only NMU"
2049 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2052 "Sometimes the initial porter upload is problematic because the environment "
2053 "in which the package was built was not good enough (outdated or obsolete "
2054 "library, bad compiler, ...). Then you may just need to recompile it in an "
2055 "updated environment. However, you have to bump the version number in this "
2056 "case, so that the old bad package can be replaced in the Debian archive "
2057 "(<command>katie</command> refuses to install new packages if they don't have "
2058 "a version number greater than the currently available one)."
2061 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2064 "You have to make sure that your binary-only NMU doesn't render the package "
2065 "uninstallable. This could happen when a source package generates arch-"
2066 "dependent and arch-independent packages that depend on each other via "
2067 "$(Source-Version)."
2070 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2073 "Despite the required modification of the changelog, these are called binary-"
2074 "only NMUs — there is no need in this case to trigger all other architectures "
2075 "to consider themselves out of date or requiring recompilation."
2078 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2081 "Such recompilations require special ``magic'' version numbering, so that the "
2082 "archive maintenance tools recognize that, even though there is a new Debian "
2083 "version, there is no corresponding source update. If you get this wrong, "
2084 "the archive maintainers will reject your upload (due to lack of "
2085 "corresponding source code)."
2088 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para><footnote>
2091 "The ``magic'' for a recompilation-only NMU is triggered by using a suffix "
2092 "appended to the package version number, following the form b<number>. "
2093 "For instance, if the latest version you are recompiling against was version "
2094 "``2.9-3'', your NMU should carry a version of ``2.9-3+b1''. If the latest "
2095 "version was ``3.4+b1'' (i.e, a native package with a previous recompilation "
2096 "NMU), your NMU should have a version number of ``3.4+b2''. <footnote>"
2099 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para><footnote><para>
2102 "In the past, such NMUs used the third-level number on the Debian part of the "
2103 "revision to denote their recompilation-only status; however, this syntax was "
2104 "ambiguous with native packages and did not allow proper ordering of "
2105 "recompile-only NMUs, source NMUs, and security NMUs on the same package, and "
2106 "has therefore been abandoned in favor of this new syntax."
2109 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2112 "Similar to initial porter uploads, the correct way of invoking <command>dpkg-"
2113 "buildpackage</command> is <literal>dpkg-buildpackage -B</literal> to only "
2114 "build the architecture-dependent parts of the package."
2117 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
2119 msgid "When to do a source NMU if you are a porter"
2122 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2125 "Porters doing a source NMU generally follow the guidelines found in <xref "
2126 "linkend=\"nmu\"/> , just like non-porters. However, it is expected that the "
2127 "wait cycle for a porter's source NMU is smaller than for a non-porter, since "
2128 "porters have to cope with a large quantity of packages. Again, the "
2129 "situation varies depending on the distribution they are uploading to. It "
2130 "also varies whether the architecture is a candidate for inclusion into the "
2131 "next stable release; the release managers decide and announce which "
2132 "architectures are candidates."
2135 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2138 "If you are a porter doing an NMU for `unstable', the above guidelines for "
2139 "porting should be followed, with two variations. Firstly, the acceptable "
2140 "waiting period — the time between when the bug is submitted to the BTS and "
2141 "when it is OK to do an NMU — is seven days for porters working on the "
2142 "unstable distribution. This period can be shortened if the problem is "
2143 "critical and imposes hardship on the porting effort, at the discretion of "
2144 "the porter group. (Remember, none of this is Policy, just mutually agreed "
2145 "upon guidelines.) For uploads to stable or testing, please coordinate with "
2146 "the appropriate release team first."
2149 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2152 "Secondly, porters doing source NMUs should make sure that the bug they "
2153 "submit to the BTS should be of severity `serious' or greater. This ensures "
2154 "that a single source package can be used to compile every supported Debian "
2155 "architecture by release time. It is very important that we have one version "
2156 "of the binary and source package for all architecture in order to comply "
2157 "with many licenses."
2160 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2163 "Porters should try to avoid patches which simply kludge around bugs in the "
2164 "current version of the compile environment, kernel, or libc. Sometimes such "
2165 "kludges can't be helped. If you have to kludge around compiler bugs and the "
2166 "like, make sure you <literal>#ifdef</literal> your work properly; also, "
2167 "document your kludge so that people know to remove it once the external "
2168 "problems have been fixed."
2171 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2174 "Porters may also have an unofficial location where they can put the results "
2175 "of their work during the waiting period. This helps others running the port "
2176 "have the benefit of the porter's work, even during the waiting period. Of "
2177 "course, such locations have no official blessing or status, so buyer beware."
2180 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2182 msgid "Porting infrastructure and automation"
2185 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2188 "There is infrastructure and several tools to help automate package porting. "
2189 "This section contains a brief overview of this automation and porting to "
2190 "these tools; see the package documentation or references for full "
2194 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
2196 msgid "Mailing lists and web pages"
2199 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2202 "Web pages containing the status of each port can be found at <ulink url="
2203 "\"&url-debian-ports;\"></ulink>."
2206 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2209 "Each port of Debian has a mailing list. The list of porting mailing lists "
2210 "can be found at <ulink url=\"&url-debian-port-lists;\"></ulink>. These "
2211 "lists are used to coordinate porters, and to connect the users of a given "
2212 "port with the porters."
2215 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
2217 msgid "Porter tools"
2220 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2223 "Descriptions of several porting tools can be found in <xref linkend=\"tools-"
2227 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2230 "The <systemitem role=\"package\">buildd</systemitem> system is used as a "
2231 "distributed, client-server build distribution system. It is usually used in "
2232 "conjunction with <emphasis>auto-builders</emphasis>, which are ``slave'' "
2233 "hosts which simply check out and attempt to auto-build packages which need "
2234 "to be ported. There is also an email interface to the system, which allows "
2235 "porters to ``check out'' a source package (usually one which cannot yet be "
2236 "auto-built) and work on it."
2239 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2242 "<systemitem role=\"package\">buildd</systemitem> is not yet available as a "
2243 "package; however, most porting efforts are either using it currently or "
2244 "planning to use it in the near future. The actual automated builder is "
2245 "packaged as <systemitem role=\"package\">sbuild</systemitem>, see its "
2246 "description in <xref linkend=\"sbuild\"/> . The complete <systemitem role="
2247 "\"package\">buildd</systemitem> system also collects a number of as yet "
2248 "unpackaged components which are currently very useful and in use "
2249 "continually, such as <command>andrea</command> and <command>wanna-build</"
2253 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2256 "Some of the data produced by <systemitem role=\"package\">buildd</"
2257 "systemitem> which is generally useful to porters is available on the web at "
2258 "<ulink url=\"&url-buildd;\"></ulink>. This data includes nightly updated "
2259 "information from <command>andrea</command> (source dependencies) and "
2260 "<systemitem role=\"package\">quinn-diff</systemitem> (packages needing "
2264 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2267 "We are quite proud of this system, since it has so many possible uses. "
2268 "Independent development groups can use the system for different sub-flavors "
2269 "of Debian, which may or may not really be of general interest (for instance, "
2270 "a flavor of Debian built with <command>gcc</command> bounds checking). It "
2271 "will also enable Debian to recompile entire distributions quickly."
2274 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
2277 "The buildds admins of each arch can be contacted at the mail address "
2278 "$arch@buildd.debian.org."
2281 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2283 msgid "When your package is <emphasis>not</emphasis> portable"
2286 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2289 "Some packages still have issues with building and/or working on some of the "
2290 "architectures supported by Debian, and cannot be ported at all, or not "
2291 "within a reasonable amount of time. An example is a package that is SVGA-"
2292 "specific (only i386), or uses other hardware-specific features not supported "
2293 "on all architectures."
2296 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2299 "In order to prevent broken packages from being uploaded to the archive, and "
2300 "wasting buildd time, you need to do a few things:"
2303 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2306 "First, make sure your package <emphasis>does</emphasis> fail to build on "
2307 "architectures that it cannot support. There are a few ways to achieve "
2308 "this. The preferred way is to have a small testsuite during build time that "
2309 "will test the functionality, and fail if it doesn't work. This is a good "
2310 "idea anyway, as this will prevent (some) broken uploads on all "
2311 "architectures, and also will allow the package to build as soon as the "
2312 "required functionality is available."
2315 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2318 "Additionally, if you believe the list of supported architectures is pretty "
2319 "constant, you should change 'any' to a list of supported architectures in "
2320 "debian/control. This way, the build will fail also, and indicate this to a "
2321 "human reader without actually trying."
2324 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2327 "In order to prevent autobuilders from needlessly trying to build your "
2328 "package, it must be included in <filename>packages-arch-specific</filename>, "
2329 "a list used by the <command>wanna-build</command> script. The current "
2330 "version is available as <ulink url=\"&url-cvsweb;srcdep/Packages-arch-"
2331 "specific?cvsroot=dak\"></ulink>; please see the top of the file for whom to "
2332 "contact for changes."
2335 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2338 "Please note that it is insufficient to only add your package to Packages-"
2339 "arch-specific without making it fail to build on unsupported architectures: "
2340 "A porter or any other person trying to build your package might accidently "
2341 "upload it without noticing it doesn't work. If in the past some binary "
2342 "packages were uploaded on unsupported architectures, request their removal "
2343 "by filing a bug against <systemitem role=\"package\">ftp.debian.org</"
2347 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
2349 msgid "Non-Maintainer Uploads (NMUs)"
2352 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2355 "Under certain circumstances it is necessary for someone other than the "
2356 "official package maintainer to make a release of a package. This is called "
2357 "a non-maintainer upload, or NMU."
2360 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2363 "This section handles only source NMUs, i.e. NMUs which upload a new version "
2364 "of the package. For binary-only NMUs by porters or QA members, please see "
2365 "<xref linkend=\"binary-only-nmu\"/> . If a buildd builds and uploads a "
2366 "package, that too is strictly speaking a binary NMU. See <xref linkend="
2367 "\"buildd\"/> for some more information."
2370 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2373 "The main reason why NMUs are done is when a developer needs to fix another "
2374 "developer's package in order to address serious problems or crippling bugs "
2375 "or when the package maintainer is unable to release a fix in a timely "
2379 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2382 "First and foremost, it is critical that NMU patches to source should be as "
2383 "non-disruptive as possible. Do not do housekeeping tasks, do not change the "
2384 "name of modules or files, do not move directories; in general, do not fix "
2385 "things which are not broken. Keep the patch as small as possible. If "
2386 "things bother you aesthetically, talk to the Debian maintainer, talk to the "
2387 "upstream maintainer, or submit a bug. However, aesthetic changes must "
2388 "<emphasis>not</emphasis> be made in a non-maintainer upload."
2391 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2394 "And please remember the Hippocratic Oath: Above all, do no harm. It is "
2395 "better to leave a package with an open grave bug than applying a non-"
2396 "functional patch, or one that hides the bug instead of resolving it."
2399 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2401 msgid "How to do a NMU"
2404 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2407 "NMUs which fix important, serious or higher severity bugs are encouraged and "
2408 "accepted. You should endeavor to reach the current maintainer of the "
2409 "package; they might be just about to upload a fix for the problem, or have a "
2413 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2416 "NMUs should be made to assist a package's maintainer in resolving bugs. "
2417 "Maintainers should be thankful for that help, and NMUers should respect the "
2418 "decisions of maintainers, and try to personally help the maintainer by their "
2422 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2425 "A NMU should follow all conventions, written down in this section. For an "
2426 "upload to testing or unstable, this order of steps is recommended:"
2429 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2432 "Make sure that the package's bugs that the NMU is meant to address are all "
2433 "filed in the Debian Bug Tracking System (BTS). If they are not, submit them "
2437 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2440 "Wait a few days for the response from the maintainer. If you don't get any "
2441 "response, you may want to help them by sending the patch that fixes the "
2442 "bug. Don't forget to tag the bug with the patch keyword."
2445 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2448 "Wait a few more days. If you still haven't got an answer from the "
2449 "maintainer, send them a mail announcing your intent to NMU the package. "
2450 "Prepare an NMU as described in this section, and test it carefully on your "
2451 "machine (cf. <xref linkend=\"sanitycheck\"/> ). Double check that your "
2452 "patch doesn't have any unexpected side effects. Make sure your patch is as "
2453 "small and as non-disruptive as it can be."
2456 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2459 "Upload your package to incoming in <filename>DELAYED/7-day</filename> (cf. "
2460 "<xref linkend=\"delayed-incoming\"/> ), send the final patch to the "
2461 "maintainer via the BTS, and explain to them that they have 7 days to react "
2462 "if they want to cancel the NMU."
2465 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2468 "Follow what happens, you're responsible for any bug that you introduced with "
2469 "your NMU. You should probably use <xref linkend=\"pkg-tracking-system\"/> "
2470 "(PTS) to stay informed of the state of the package after your NMU."
2473 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2476 "At times, the release manager or an organized group of developers can "
2477 "announce a certain period of time in which the NMU rules are relaxed. This "
2478 "usually involves shortening the period during which one is to wait before "
2479 "uploading the fixes, and shortening the DELAYED period. It is important to "
2480 "notice that even in these so-called bug squashing party times, the NMU'er "
2481 "has to file bugs and contact the developer first, and act later. Please see "
2482 "<xref linkend=\"qa-bsp\"/> for details."
2485 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2488 "For the testing distribution, the rules may be changed by the release "
2489 "managers. Please take additional care, and acknowledge that the usual way "
2490 "for a package to enter testing is through unstable."
2493 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2496 "For the stable distribution, please take extra care. Of course, the release "
2497 "managers may also change the rules here. Please verify before you upload "
2498 "that all your changes are OK for inclusion into the next stable release by "
2499 "the release manager."
2502 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2505 "When a security bug is detected, the security team may do an NMU, using "
2506 "their own rules. Please refer to <xref linkend=\"bug-security\"/> for more "
2510 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2513 "For the differences for Porters NMUs, please see <xref linkend=\"source-nmu-"
2517 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2520 "Of course, it is always possible to agree on special rules with a maintainer "
2521 "(like the maintainer asking please upload this fix directly for me, and no "
2525 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2527 msgid "NMU version numbering"
2530 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2533 "Whenever you have made a change to a package, no matter how trivial, the "
2534 "version number needs to change. This enables our packing system to function."
2537 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2540 "If you are doing a non-maintainer upload (NMU), you should add a new minor "
2541 "version number to the <replaceable>debian-revision</replaceable> part of the "
2542 "version number (the portion after the last hyphen). This extra minor number "
2543 "will start at `1'. For example, consider the package `foo', which is at "
2544 "version 1.1-3. In the archive, the source package control file would be "
2545 "<filename>foo_1.1-3.dsc</filename>. The upstream version is `1.1' and the "
2546 "Debian revision is `3'. The next NMU would add a new minor number `.1' to "
2547 "the Debian revision; the new source control file would be <filename>foo_1.1-"
2548 "3.1.dsc</filename>."
2551 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2554 "The Debian revision minor number is needed to avoid stealing one of the "
2555 "package maintainer's version numbers, which might disrupt their work. It "
2556 "also has the benefit of making it visually clear that a package in the "
2557 "archive was not made by the official maintainer."
2560 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2563 "If there is no <replaceable>debian-revision</replaceable> component in the "
2564 "version number then one should be created, starting at `0.1' (but in case of "
2565 "a debian native package still upload it as native package). If it is "
2566 "absolutely necessary for someone other than the usual maintainer to make a "
2567 "release based on a new upstream version then the person making the release "
2568 "should start with the <replaceable>debian-revision</replaceable> value "
2569 "`0.1'. The usual maintainer of a package should start their "
2570 "<replaceable>debian-revision</replaceable> numbering at `1'."
2573 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2576 "If you upload a package to testing or stable, sometimes, you need to fork "
2577 "the version number tree. For this, version numbers like 1.1-3sarge0.1 could "
2581 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2583 msgid "Source NMUs must have a new changelog entry"
2586 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2589 "Anyone who is doing a source NMU must create a changelog entry, describing "
2590 "which bugs are fixed by the NMU, and generally why the NMU was required and "
2591 "what it fixed. The changelog entry will have the email address of the "
2592 "person who uploaded it in the log entry and the NMU version number in it."
2595 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2597 msgid "By convention, source NMU changelog entries start with the line"
2600 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><screen>
2603 msgid "* Non-maintainer upload"
2606 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2608 msgid "Source NMUs and the Bug Tracking System"
2611 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2614 "Maintainers other than the official package maintainer should make as few "
2615 "changes to the package as possible, and they should always send a patch as a "
2616 "unified context diff (<literal>diff -u</literal>) detailing their changes to "
2617 "the Bug Tracking System."
2620 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2623 "What if you are simply recompiling the package? If you just need to "
2624 "recompile it for a single architecture, then you may do a binary-only NMU as "
2625 "described in <xref linkend=\"binary-only-nmu\"/> which doesn't require any "
2626 "patch to be sent. If you want the package to be recompiled for all "
2627 "architectures, then you do a source NMU as usual and you will have to send a "
2631 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2634 "Bugs fixed by source NMUs used to be tagged fixed instead of closed, but "
2635 "since version tracking is in place, such bugs are now also closed with the "
2639 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2642 "Also, after doing an NMU, you have to send the information to the existing "
2643 "bugs that are fixed by your NMU, including the unified diff. Historically, "
2644 "it was custom to open a new bug and include a patch showing all the changes "
2645 "you have made. The normal maintainer will either apply the patch or employ "
2646 "an alternate method of fixing the problem. Sometimes bugs are fixed "
2647 "independently upstream, which is another good reason to back out an NMU's "
2648 "patch. If the maintainer decides not to apply the NMU's patch but to "
2649 "release a new version, the maintainer needs to ensure that the new upstream "
2650 "version really fixes each problem that was fixed in the non-maintainer "
2654 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2657 "In addition, the normal maintainer should <emphasis>always</emphasis> retain "
2658 "the entry in the changelog file documenting the non-maintainer upload -- and "
2659 "of course, also keep the changes. If you revert some of the changes, please "
2660 "reopen the relevant bug reports."
2663 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2665 msgid "Building source NMUs"
2668 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2671 "Source NMU packages are built normally. Pick a distribution using the same "
2672 "rules as found in <xref linkend=\"distribution\"/> , follow the other "
2673 "instructions in <xref linkend=\"upload\"/> ."
2676 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2679 "Make sure you do <emphasis>not</emphasis> change the value of the maintainer "
2680 "in the <filename>debian/control</filename> file. Your name as given in the "
2681 "NMU entry of the <filename>debian/changelog</filename> file will be used for "
2682 "signing the changes file."
2685 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2687 msgid "Acknowledging an NMU"
2690 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2693 "If one of your packages has been NMU'ed, you have to incorporate the changes "
2694 "in your copy of the sources. This is easy, you just have to apply the patch "
2695 "that has been sent to you. Once this is done, you have to close the bugs "
2696 "that have been tagged fixed by the NMU. The easiest way is to use the "
2697 "<literal>-v</literal> option of <command>dpkg-buildpackage</command>, as "
2698 "this allows you to include just all changes since your last maintainer "
2699 "upload. Alternatively, you can close them manually by sending the required "
2700 "mails to the BTS or by adding the required <literal>closes: #nnnn</literal> "
2701 "in the changelog entry of your next upload."
2704 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2707 "In any case, you should not be upset by the NMU. An NMU is not a personal "
2708 "attack against the maintainer. It is a proof that someone cares enough "
2709 "about the package that they were willing to help you in your work, so you "
2710 "should be thankful. You may also want to ask them if they would be "
2711 "interested in helping you on a more frequent basis as co-maintainer or "
2712 "backup maintainer (see <xref linkend=\"collaborative-maint\"/> )."
2715 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2717 msgid "NMU vs QA uploads"
2720 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2723 "Unless you know the maintainer is still active, it is wise to check the "
2724 "package to see if it has been orphaned. The current list of orphaned "
2725 "packages which haven't had their maintainer set correctly is available at "
2726 "<ulink url=\"&url-debian-qa-orphaned;\"></ulink>. If you perform an NMU on "
2727 "an improperly orphaned package, please set the maintainer to <literal>Debian "
2728 "QA Group <packages@qa.debian.org></literal>."
2731 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2733 msgid "Who can do an NMU"
2736 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2739 "Only official, registered Debian Developers can do binary or source NMUs. A "
2740 "Debian Developer is someone who has their key in the Debian key ring. Non-"
2741 "developers, however, are encouraged to download the source package and start "
2742 "hacking on it to fix problems; however, rather than doing an NMU, they "
2743 "should just submit worthwhile patches to the Bug Tracking System. "
2744 "Maintainers almost always appreciate quality patches and bug reports."
2747 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2752 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2755 "There are two new terms used throughout this section: ``binary-only NMU'' "
2756 "and ``source NMU''. These terms are used with specific technical meaning "
2757 "throughout this document. Both binary-only and source NMUs are similar, "
2758 "since they involve an upload of a package by a developer who is not the "
2759 "official maintainer of that package. That is why it's a <emphasis>non-"
2760 "maintainer</emphasis> upload."
2763 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2766 "A source NMU is an upload of a package by a developer who is not the "
2767 "official maintainer, for the purposes of fixing a bug in the package. "
2768 "Source NMUs always involves changes to the source (even if it is just a "
2769 "change to <filename>debian/changelog</filename>). This can be either a "
2770 "change to the upstream source, or a change to the Debian bits of the "
2771 "source. Note, however, that source NMUs may also include architecture-"
2772 "dependent packages, as well as an updated Debian diff."
2775 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2778 "A binary-only NMU is a recompilation and upload of a binary package for a "
2779 "given architecture. As such, it is usually part of a porting effort. A "
2780 "binary-only NMU is a non-maintainer uploaded binary version of a package, "
2781 "with no source changes required. There are many cases where porters must "
2782 "fix problems in the source in order to get them to compile for their target "
2783 "architecture; that would be considered a source NMU rather than a binary-"
2784 "only NMU. As you can see, we don't distinguish in terminology between "
2785 "porter NMUs and non-porter NMUs."
2788 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2791 "Both classes of NMUs, source and binary-only, can be lumped under the term "
2792 "``NMU''. However, this often leads to confusion, since most people think "
2793 "``source NMU'' when they think ``NMU''. So it's best to be careful: always "
2794 "use ``binary NMU'' or ``binNMU'' for binary-only NMUs."
2797 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
2799 msgid "Collaborative maintenance"
2802 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2805 "Collaborative maintenance is a term describing the sharing of Debian package "
2806 "maintenance duties by several people. This collaboration is almost always a "
2807 "good idea, since it generally results in higher quality and faster bug fix "
2808 "turnaround times. It is strongly recommended that packages with a priority "
2809 "of <literal>Standard</literal> or which are part of the base set have co-"
2813 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2816 "Generally there is a primary maintainer and one or more co-maintainers. The "
2817 "primary maintainer is the person whose name is listed in the "
2818 "<literal>Maintainer</literal> field of the <filename>debian/control</"
2819 "filename> file. Co-maintainers are all the other maintainers."
2822 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2825 "In its most basic form, the process of adding a new co-maintainer is quite "
2829 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2832 "Setup the co-maintainer with access to the sources you build the package "
2833 "from. Generally this implies you are using a network-capable version "
2834 "control system, such as <command>CVS</command> or <command>Subversion</"
2835 "command>. Alioth (see <xref linkend=\"alioth\"/> ) provides such tools, "
2839 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2842 "Add the co-maintainer's correct maintainer name and address to the "
2843 "<literal>Uploaders</literal> field in the global part of the "
2844 "<filename>debian/control</filename> file."
2847 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><screen>
2850 msgid "Uploaders: John Buzz <jbuzz@debian.org>, Adam Rex <arex@debian.org>"
2853 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2856 "Using the PTS (<xref linkend=\"pkg-tracking-system\"/> ), the co-maintainers "
2857 "should subscribe themselves to the appropriate source package."
2860 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2863 "Another form of collaborative maintenance is team maintenance, which is "
2864 "recommended if you maintain several packages with the same group of "
2865 "developers. In that case, the Maintainer and Uploaders field of each "
2866 "package must be managed with care. It is recommended to choose between one "
2867 "of the two following schemes:"
2870 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
2873 "Put the team member mainly responsible for the package in the Maintainer "
2874 "field. In the Uploaders, put the mailing list address, and the team members "
2875 "who care for the package."
2878 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><orderedlist><listitem><para>
2881 "Put the mailing list address in the Maintainer field. In the Uploaders "
2882 "field, put the team members who care for the package. In this case, you "
2883 "must make sure the mailing list accept bug reports without any human "
2884 "interaction (like moderation for non-subscribers)."
2887 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><para>
2890 "In any case, it is a bad idea to automatically put all team members in the "
2891 "Uploaders field. It clutters the Developer's Package Overview listing (see "
2892 "<xref linkend=\"ddpo\"/> ) with packages one doesn't really care for, and "
2893 "creates a false sense of good maintenance."
2896 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><title>
2898 msgid "The testing distribution"
2901 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2906 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2909 "Packages are usually installed into the `testing' distribution after they "
2910 "have undergone some degree of testing in unstable."
2913 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2916 "They must be in sync on all architectures and mustn't have dependencies that "
2917 "make them uninstallable; they also have to have generally no known release-"
2918 "critical bugs at the time they're installed into testing. This way, "
2919 "`testing' should always be close to being a release candidate. Please see "
2920 "below for details."
2923 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
2925 msgid "Updates from unstable"
2928 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2931 "The scripts that update the <emphasis>testing</emphasis> distribution are "
2932 "run each day after the installation of the updated packages; these scripts "
2933 "are called <emphasis>britney</emphasis>. They generate the "
2934 "<filename>Packages</filename> files for the <emphasis>testing</emphasis> "
2935 "distribution, but they do so in an intelligent manner; they try to avoid any "
2936 "inconsistency and to use only non-buggy packages."
2939 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2942 "The inclusion of a package from <emphasis>unstable</emphasis> is conditional "
2946 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2949 "The package must have been available in <emphasis>unstable</emphasis> for 2, "
2950 "5 or 10 days, depending on the urgency (high, medium or low). Please note "
2951 "that the urgency is sticky, meaning that the highest urgency uploaded since "
2952 "the previous testing transition is taken into account. Those delays may be "
2953 "doubled during a freeze, or testing transitions may be switched off "
2957 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2960 "It must have the same number or fewer release-critical bugs than the version "
2961 "currently available in <emphasis>testing</emphasis>;"
2964 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2967 "It must be available on all architectures on which it has previously been "
2968 "built in unstable. <xref linkend=\"madison\"/> may be of interest to check "
2972 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2975 "It must not break any dependency of a package which is already available in "
2976 "<emphasis>testing</emphasis>;"
2979 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
2982 "The packages on which it depends must either be available in "
2983 "<emphasis>testing</emphasis> or they must be accepted into "
2984 "<emphasis>testing</emphasis> at the same time (and they will be if they "
2985 "fulfill all the necessary criteria);"
2988 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
2991 "To find out whether a package is progressing into testing or not, see the "
2992 "testing script output on the <ulink url=\"&url-testing-maint;\">web page of "
2993 "the testing distribution</ulink>, or use the program <command>grep-excuses</"
2994 "command> which is in the <systemitem role=\"package\">devscripts</"
2995 "systemitem> package. This utility can easily be used in a <citerefentry> "
2996 "<refentrytitle>crontab</refentrytitle> <manvolnum>5</manvolnum> </"
2997 "citerefentry> to keep yourself informed of the progression of your packages "
2998 "into <emphasis>testing</emphasis>."
3001 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3004 "The <filename>update_excuses</filename> file does not always give the "
3005 "precise reason why the package is refused; you may have to find it on your "
3006 "own by looking for what would break with the inclusion of the package. The "
3007 "<ulink url=\"&url-testing-maint;\">testing web page</ulink> gives some more "
3008 "information about the usual problems which may be causing such troubles."
3011 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3014 "Sometimes, some packages never enter <emphasis>testing</emphasis> because "
3015 "the set of inter-relationship is too complicated and cannot be sorted out by "
3016 "the scripts. See below for details."
3019 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3022 "Some further dependency analysis is shown on <ulink url=\"http://bjorn.haxx."
3023 "se/debian/\"></ulink> — but be warned, this page also shows build "
3024 "dependencies which are not considered by britney."
3027 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3032 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3033 #. FIXME: better rename this file than document rampant professionalism?
3036 "For the testing migration script, outdated means: There are different "
3037 "versions in unstable for the release architectures (except for the "
3038 "architectures in fuckedarches; fuckedarches is a list of architectures that "
3039 "don't keep up (in update_out.py), but currently, it's empty). outdated has "
3040 "nothing whatsoever to do with the architectures this package has in testing."
3043 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3045 msgid "Consider this example:"
3048 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><thead><row><entry>
3049 #: pkgs.dbk:2284 pkgs.dbk:2315
3053 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><thead><row><entry>
3054 #: pkgs.dbk:2285 pkgs.dbk:2316
3058 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><thead><row><entry>
3059 #: pkgs.dbk:2290 pkgs.dbk:2322 pkgs.dbk:2382
3063 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3064 #: pkgs.dbk:2291 pkgs.dbk:2296 pkgs.dbk:2323 pkgs.dbk:2324 pkgs.dbk:2331
3068 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3069 #: pkgs.dbk:2292 pkgs.dbk:2325 pkgs.dbk:2330
3073 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><thead><row><entry>
3074 #: pkgs.dbk:2295 pkgs.dbk:2328 pkgs.dbk:2383
3078 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3079 #: pkgs.dbk:2297 pkgs.dbk:2329
3083 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3086 "The package is out of date on alpha in unstable, and will not go to "
3087 "testing. And removing foo from testing would not help at all, the package "
3088 "is still out of date on alpha, and will not propagate to testing."
3091 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3093 msgid "However, if ftp-master removes a package in unstable (here on arm):"
3096 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><thead><row><entry>
3101 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3104 "In this case, the package is up to date on all release architectures in "
3105 "unstable (and the extra hurd-i386 doesn't matter, as it's not a release "
3109 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3112 "Sometimes, the question is raised if it is possible to allow packages in "
3113 "that are not yet built on all architectures: No. Just plainly no. (Except "
3114 "if you maintain glibc or so.)"
3117 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3119 msgid "Removals from testing"
3122 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3125 "Sometimes, a package is removed to allow another package in: This happens "
3126 "only to allow <emphasis>another</emphasis> package to go in if it's ready in "
3127 "every other sense. Suppose e.g. that <emphasis>a</emphasis> cannot be "
3128 "installed with the new version of <emphasis>b</emphasis>; then <emphasis>a</"
3129 "emphasis> may be removed to allow <emphasis>b</emphasis> in."
3132 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3135 "Of course, there is another reason to remove a package from testing: It's "
3136 "just too buggy (and having a single RC-bug is enough to be in this state)."
3139 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3142 "Furthermore, if a package has been removed from unstable, and no package in "
3143 "testing depends on it any more, then it will automatically be removed."
3146 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3148 msgid "circular dependencies"
3151 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3154 "A situation which is not handled very well by britney is if package "
3155 "<emphasis>a</emphasis> depends on the new version of package <emphasis>b</"
3156 "emphasis>, and vice versa."
3159 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3161 msgid "An example of this is:"
3164 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3169 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3171 msgid "1; depends: b=1"
3174 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3176 msgid "2; depends: b=2"
3179 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3184 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3186 msgid "1; depends: a=1"
3189 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><informaltable><tgroup><tbody><row><entry>
3191 msgid "2; depends: a=2"
3194 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3197 "Neither package <emphasis>a</emphasis> nor package <emphasis>b</emphasis> is "
3198 "considered for update."
3201 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3204 "Currently, this requires some manual hinting from the release team. Please "
3205 "contact them by sending mail to &email-debian-release; if this happens to "
3206 "one of your packages."
3209 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3211 msgid "influence of package in testing"
3214 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3217 "Generally, there is nothing that the status of a package in testing means "
3218 "for transition of the next version from unstable to testing, with two "
3219 "exceptions: If the RC-bugginess of the package goes down, it may go in even "
3220 "if it is still RC-buggy. The second exception is if the version of the "
3221 "package in testing is out of sync on the different arches: Then any arch "
3222 "might just upgrade to the version of the source package; however, this can "
3223 "happen only if the package was previously forced through, the arch is in "
3224 "fuckedarches, or there was no binary package of that arch present in "
3225 "unstable at all during the testing migration."
3228 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3231 "In summary this means: The only influence that a package being in testing "
3232 "has on a new version of the same package is that the new version might go in "
3236 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3241 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3243 msgid "If you are interested in details, this is how britney works:"
3246 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3249 "The packages are looked at to determine whether they are valid candidates. "
3250 "This gives the update excuses. The most common reasons why a package is not "
3251 "considered are too young, RC-bugginess, and out of date on some arches. For "
3252 "this part of britney, the release managers have hammers of various sizes to "
3253 "force britney to consider a package. (Also, the base freeze is coded in "
3254 "that part of britney.) (There is a similar thing for binary-only updates, "
3255 "but this is not described here. If you're interested in that, please peruse "
3259 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3262 "Now, the more complex part happens: Britney tries to update testing with the "
3263 "valid candidates; first, each package alone, and then larger and even larger "
3264 "sets of packages together. Each try is accepted if testing is not more "
3265 "uninstallable after the update than before. (Before and after this part, "
3266 "some hints are processed; but as only release masters can hint, this is "
3267 "probably not so important for you.)"
3270 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3273 "If you want to see more details, you can look it up on merkel:/org/&ftp-"
3274 "debian-org;/testing/update_out/ (or there in ~aba/testing/update_out to see "
3275 "a setup with a smaller packages file). Via web, it's at <ulink url=\"http://"
3276 "&ftp-master-host;/testing/update_out_code/\"></ulink>"
3279 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3282 "The hints are available via <ulink url=\"http://&ftp-master-host;/testing/"
3283 "hints/\"></ulink>."
3286 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
3288 msgid "Direct updates to testing"
3291 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3294 "The testing distribution is fed with packages from unstable according to the "
3295 "rules explained above. However, in some cases, it is necessary to upload "
3296 "packages built only for testing. For that, you may want to upload to "
3297 "<emphasis>testing-proposed-updates</emphasis>."
3300 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3303 "Keep in mind that packages uploaded there are not automatically processed, "
3304 "they have to go through the hands of the release manager. So you'd better "
3305 "have a good reason to upload there. In order to know what a good reason is "
3306 "in the release managers' eyes, you should read the instructions that they "
3307 "regularly give on &email-debian-devel-announce;."
3310 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3313 "You should not upload to <emphasis>testing-proposed-updates</emphasis> when "
3314 "you can update your packages through <emphasis>unstable</emphasis>. If you "
3315 "can't (for example because you have a newer development version in "
3316 "unstable), you may use this facility, but it is recommended that you ask for "
3317 "authorization from the release manager first. Even if a package is frozen, "
3318 "updates through unstable are possible, if the upload via unstable does not "
3319 "pull in any new dependencies."
3322 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3325 "Version numbers are usually selected by adding the codename of the testing "
3326 "distribution and a running number, like 1.2sarge1 for the first upload "
3327 "through testing-proposed-updates of package version 1.2."
3330 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><para>
3332 msgid "Please make sure you didn't miss any of these items in your upload:"
3335 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3338 "Make sure that your package really needs to go through <emphasis>testing-"
3339 "proposed-updates</emphasis>, and can't go through unstable;"
3342 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3344 msgid "Make sure that you included only the minimal amount of changes;"
3347 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3350 "Make sure that you included an appropriate explanation in the changelog;"
3353 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3356 "Make sure that you've written <emphasis>testing</emphasis> or "
3357 "<emphasis>testing-proposed-updates</emphasis> into your target distribution;"
3360 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3363 "Make sure that you've built and tested your package in <emphasis>testing</"
3364 "emphasis>, not in <emphasis>unstable</emphasis>;"
3367 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3370 "Make sure that your version number is higher than the version in "
3371 "<emphasis>testing</emphasis> and <emphasis>testing-proposed-updates</"
3372 "emphasis>, and lower than in <emphasis>unstable</emphasis>;"
3375 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><itemizedlist><listitem><para>
3378 "After uploading and successful build on all platforms, contact the release "
3379 "team at &email-debian-release; and ask them to approve your upload."
3382 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><title>
3384 msgid "Frequently asked questions"
3387 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3389 msgid "What are release-critical bugs, and how do they get counted?"
3392 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3395 "All bugs of some higher severities are by default considered release-"
3396 "critical; currently, these are critical, grave, and serious bugs."
3399 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3402 "Such bugs are presumed to have an impact on the chances that the package "
3403 "will be released with the stable release of Debian: in general, if a package "
3404 "has open release-critical bugs filed on it, it won't get into testing, and "
3405 "consequently won't be released in stable."
3408 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3411 "The unstable bug count are all release-critical bugs without either any "
3412 "release-tag (such as potato, woody) or with release-tag sid; also, only if "
3413 "they are neither fixed nor set to sarge-ignore. The testing bug count for a "
3414 "package is considered to be roughly the bug count of unstable count at the "
3415 "last point when the testing version equalled the unstable version."
3418 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3421 "This will change post-sarge, as soon as we have versions in the bug tracking "
3425 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><title>
3428 "How could installing a package into testing possibly break other packages?"
3431 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3434 "The structure of the distribution archives is such that they can only "
3435 "contain one version of a package; a package is defined by its name. So when "
3436 "the source package acmefoo is installed into testing, along with its binary "
3437 "packages acme-foo-bin, acme-bar-bin, libacme-foo1 and libacme-foo-dev, the "
3438 "old version is removed."
3441 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3444 "However, the old version may have provided a binary package with an old "
3445 "soname of a library, such as libacme-foo0. Removing the old acmefoo will "
3446 "remove libacme-foo0, which will break any packages which depend on it."
3449 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3452 "Evidently, this mainly affects packages which provide changing sets of "
3453 "binary packages in different versions (in turn, mainly libraries). However, "
3454 "it will also affect packages upon which versioned dependencies have been "
3455 "declared of the ==, <=, or << varieties."
3458 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3461 "When the set of binary packages provided by a source package change in this "
3462 "way, all the packages that depended on the old binaries will have to be "
3463 "updated to depend on the new binaries instead. Because installing such a "
3464 "source package into testing breaks all the packages that depended on it in "
3465 "testing, some care has to be taken now: all the depending packages must be "
3466 "updated and ready to be installed themselves so that they won't be broken, "
3467 "and, once everything is ready, manual intervention by the release manager or "
3468 "an assistant is normally required."
3471 # type: Content of: <chapter><section><section><section><para>
3474 "If you are having problems with complicated groups of packages like this, "
3475 "contact debian-devel or debian-release for help."
~ianmdlvl / developers-reference.git / blob