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+ <!entity cvs-rev "$Revision: 1.48 $">
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much important information which is critical to its security. Many
more security failures are due to human error than to software failure
or high-powered spy techniques. See <ref id="key-maint"> for more
-information on maintianing your public key.
+information on maintaining your public key.
<p>
Debian uses the <prgn>GNU Privacy Guard</prgn> (package
<package>gnupg</package> version 1 or better as its baseline standard.
There's a LDAP database containing many informations concerning all
developers, you can access it at <url id="&url-debian-db;">. You can
update your password (this password is propagated to most of the machines
-that are accessible to you), your adress, your country, the latitude and
-longitude from the point where you live, phone and fax numbers, your
+that are accessible to you), your address, your country, the latitude and
+longitude of the point where you live, phone and fax numbers, your
preferred shell, your IRC nickname, your web page and the email that
you're using as alias for your debian.org email. Most of the information
is not accessible to the public, for more details about this
<sect id="inform-vacation">Going On Vacation Gracefully
<p>
-Most of the developers take vacation, usually this means that they can't
+Most developers take vacations, and usually this means that they can't
work for Debian and they can't be reached by email if any problem occurs.
The other developers need to know that you're on vacation so that they'll
do whatever is needed when such a problem occurs. Usually this means that
-other developers are allowed to NMU your package if a big problem (release
-critical bugs, security update, ...) occurs while you're on vacation.
+other developers are allowed to NMU (see <ref id="nmu">) your package if a
+big problem (release critical bugs, security update, ...) occurs while
+you're on vacation.
<p>
In order to inform the other developers, there's two things that you should do.
First send a mail to &email-debian-private; giving the period of time when
-you will be on vacation, you can also give some special instructions on what to
+you will be on vacation. You can also give some special instructions on what to
do if any problem occurs. Next you should update your information
-available in the Debian LDAP database and mark yourself as « on vacation »
+available in the Debian LDAP database and mark yourself as ``on vacation''
(this information is only accessible to debian developers). Don't forget
-to remove the « on vacation » flag when you come back.
+to remove the ``on vacation'' flag when you come back.
<sect id="upstream-coordination">Coordination With Upstream Developers
<p>
A big part of your job as Debian maintainer will be to stay in contact
with the upstream developers since you'll have to share information that
you get from the Bug Tracking System. It's not your job to fix non-Debian
-specific bugs so you have to forward the bugs to the upstream developers
-(of course, if you are able to fix them, you can ...). This way the bug
-may be corrected when the next upstream version comes out. From time to
-time, you may get a patch attached to a bug report, you have to send the
+specific bugs.
+Rather, you have to forward these bugs to the upstream developers.
+(Of course, if you are able to do so, you may certainly fix them...)
+This way, the bug will hopefully
+be corrected when the next upstream version comes out.
+ <p>
+From time to
+time, you may get a patch attached to a bug report. You have to send the
patch upstream and make sure that it gets included (if the authors accept
the proposed fix). If you need to modify the upstream sources in order to
build a policy conformant package, then you should propose a nice fix
-to the upstream developers which can be included so that you won't have to
+to the upstream developers which can be included there, so that you won't have to
modify the sources of the next upstream version. Whatever changes you
need, always try not to fork from the upstream sources.
<sect id="rc-bugs">Managing Release Critical Bugs
<p>
-Release Critical Bugs (RCB) are the bugs of severity « critical »,
-« grave » and « important ». Those bugs can delay
-the Debian release and/or can justify the removal of a package at freeze
-time. That's why those bugs needs to be corrected as fast as possible.
-You must be aware that some developers who are part of the <url
-id="&url-debian-qa;" name="Debian Quality Assurance"> effort are following
-those bugs and try to help you each time they can. But if you can't
-fix such bugs within 2 weeks, you should either ask for help by sending a
-mail to the Quality Assurance (QA) group (&email-debian-qa;) or
-justify yourself and gives your plan to fix it by sending a mail to the
-concerned bug report. Otherwise people from the QA group may want to do a
-Non Maintainer Upload (NMU) after trying to contact you (they might wait
-not as long as usually before they do their NMU if they have seen no
-recent activity from you on the BTS).
+Release Critical Bugs (RCB) are all bugs that have severity
+<em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em> or <em>serious</em>.
+Those bugs can delay the Debian release
+and/or can justify the removal of a package at freeze time. That's why
+those bugs needs to be corrected as fast as possible. You must be
+aware that some developers who are part of the <url
+id="&url-debian-qa;" name="Debian Quality Assurance"> effort are
+following those bugs and try to help you each time they can. But if
+you can't fix such bugs within 2 weeks, you should either ask for help
+by sending a mail to the Quality Assurance (QA) group
+(&email-debian-qa;) or justify yourself and present your plan to fix
+it by sending a mail to the bug concerned report. Otherwise people
+from the QA group may want to do a Non-Maintainer Upload (see
+<ref id="nmu">) after trying to contact you (they might not wait as long as
+usual before they do their NMU if they have seen no recent activity from you
+on the BTS).
<sect id="qa-effort">Quality Assurance Effort
<p>
-Even if there is a dedicated group of people for Quality Assurance, QA is
-not reserved to them. You can participate to this effort by keeping your
-packages as bug free as possible, as lintian-clean (see <ref
-id="lintian-reports">) as possible. If you think that it's quite impossible,
-then you should consider orphaning (see <ref id="orphaning">) some of your
-packages so that you can do a good job with the other packages that you
-maintain. Alternatively you may ask the help of other people in order to
-catch up the backlog of bugs that you have (you can ask for help on
+Even though there is a dedicated group of people for Quality
+Assurance, QA duties are not reserved solely to them. You can
+participate in this effort by keeping your packages as bug free as
+possible, and as lintian-clean (see <ref id="lintian-reports">) as
+possible. If you think that it's quite impossible, then you should
+consider orphaning (see <ref id="orphaning">) some of your packages so
+that you can do a good job with the other packages that you
+maintain. Alternatively you may ask the help of other people in order
+to catch up the backlog of bugs that you have (you can ask for help on
&email-debian-qa; or &email-debian-devel;).
<sect>Retiring Gracefully
<url id="&url-debian-lists-subscribe;"> for a list. Cross-posting
(sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.
<p>
-&email-debian-private; is a special mailing lists for private
+&email-debian-private; is a special mailing list for private
discussions amongst Debian developers. It is meant to be used for
posts which for whatever reason should not be published publically.
As such, it is a low volume list, and users are urged not to use
in the Debian project. Every developer should know what these servers
are and what they do.
<p>
-If you have a problem with the operation of Debian server, and you
+If you have a problem with the operation of a Debian server, and you
think that the system operators need to be notified of this problem,
please find the contact address for the particular machine at <url
id="&url-devel-machines;">. If you have a non-operating problems
<sect1 id="servers-www">The WWW server
<p>
The main web server, <tt>www.debian.org</tt>, is also known as
-<tt>va.debian.org</tt>. All developers are given accounts on this
+<tt>klecker.debian.org</tt>. All developers are given accounts on this
machine.
<p>
If you have some Debian-specific information which you want to serve
-up on the web, you can do do this by putting material in the
-<file>public_html</file> directory under your home directory. You can
-do this on <tt>va.debian.org</tt>. Any material you put in those areas
+up on the web, you can do this by putting material in the
+<file>public_html</file> directory under your home directory. You should
+do this on <tt>klecker.debian.org</tt>. Any material you put in those areas
are accessible via the URL
-<tt>http://www.debian.org/~<var>user-id</var>/</tt>.
-If necessary, you can use other Debian machines for this; the procedure
-is analogous to the above. Please do not put any material on Debian
+<tt>http://people.debian.org/~<var>user-id</var>/</tt>.
+You should only use this particular location because it will be backed up,
+whereas on other hosts it won't. Please do not put any material on Debian
servers not relating to Debian, unless you have prior permission.
Send mail to &email-debian-devel; if you have any questions.
<p>
<sect1 id="servers-cvs">The CVS server
<p>
-<tt>cvs.debian.org</tt> is also known as <tt>va.debian.org</tt>,
-discussed above. If you need the use of a publically accessible CVS
+<tt>cvs.debian.org</tt> is also known as <tt>klecker.debian.org</tt>,
+discussed above. If you need to use a publically accessible CVS
server, for instance, to help coordinate work on a package between
many different developers, you can request a CVS area on the server.
<p>
<p>
To request a CVS area, send a request via email to
&email-debian-admin;. Include the name of the requested CVS area,
-what <tt>va.debian.org</tt> user account should own the CVS root area,
-and why you need it.
+Debian account should own the CVS root area, and why you need it.
<sect1 id="servers-mirrors">Mirrors of Debian servers
(<tt>.deb</tt>'s, currently around &number-of-pkgs;) and a few
additional files (documentation, installation disk images, etc.).
<p>
-Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian distribution:
+Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian archive:
<p>
&sample-dist-dirtree;
<p>
-As you can see, the top-level directory of the distribution contains
-three directories, namely <em>main</em>, <em>contrib</em>, and
-<em>non-free</em>. These directories are called <em>sections</em>.
- <p>
-In each section, there is a directory with the source packages
-(source), a directory for each supported architecture
+As you can see, the top-level directory contains two directories,
+<tt>dists/</tt> and <tt>pool/</tt>. The latter is a ``pool'' in which the
+packages actually are, and which is handled by the archive maintenance
+database and the accompanying programs. The former contains the
+distributions, <em>stable</em>, <em>testing</em> and <em>unstable</em>.
+Each of those distribution directories is divided in equivalent
+subdirectories purpose of which is equal, so we will only explain how it
+looks in stable. The <tt>Packages</tt> and <tt>Sources</tt> files in the
+distribution subdirectories can reference files in the <tt>pool/</tt>
+directory.
+ <p>
+<tt>dists/stable</tt> contains three directories, namely <em>main</em>,
+<em>contrib</em>, and <em>non-free</em>.
+ <p>
+In each of the areas, there is a directory with the source packages
+(<tt>source</tt>), a directory for each supported architecture
(<tt>binary-i386</tt>, <tt>binary-m68k</tt>, etc.), and a directory
for architecture independent packages (<tt>binary-all</tt>).
<p>
-The <em>main</em> section contains additional directories which holds
+The <em>main</em> area contains additional directories which holds
the disk images and some essential pieces of documentation required
for installing the Debian distribution on a specific architecture
(<tt>disks-i386</tt>, <tt>disks-m68k</tt>, etc.).
<p>
-The <em>binary</em> and <em>source</em> directories are divided
+The <em>binary-*</em> and <em>source</em> directories are divided
further into <em>subsections</em>.
<sect>Sections
<p>
-The <em>main</em> section is what makes up the <em>official Debian
-GNU/Linux distribution</em>. The <em>main</em> section is official
-because it fully complies with all our guidelines. The other two
-sections do not, to different degrees; as such, they are not
-officially part of Debian.
+The <em>main</em> section of the Debian archive is what makes up the
+<strong>official Debian GNU/Linux distribution</strong>.
+The <em>main</em> section is official because it fully complies with
+all our guidelines. The other two sections do not, to different degrees;
+as such, they are <strong>not</strong> officially part of Debian GNU/Linux.
<p>
Every package in the main section must fully comply with the <url
id="&url-dfsg;" name="Debian Free Software Guidelines"> (DFSG) and
our definition of ``free software.'' Check out the Debian Policy
Manual for details.
<p>
-The packages which do not apply to the DFSG are placed in the
+Packages in the <em>contrib</em> section have to comply with the DFSG,
+but may fail other requirements. For instance, they may depend on
+non-free packages.
+ <p>
+Packages which do not apply to the DFSG are placed in the
<em>non-free</em> section. These packages are not considered as part
of the Debian distribution, though we support their use, and we
provide infrastructure (such as our bug-tracking system and mailing
lists) for non-free software packages.
<p>
-Packages in the <em>contrib</em> section have to comply with the DFSG,
-but may fail other requirements. For instance, they may depend on
-non-free packages.
- <p>
The <url id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual">
contains a more exact definition of the three sections. The above
discussion is just an introduction.
<p>
On the other hand, a CD-ROM vendor could easily check the individual
package licenses of the packages in <em>non-free</em> and include as
-many on the CD-ROMs as he's allowed. (Since this varies greatly from
+many on the CD-ROMs as he's allowed to. (Since this varies greatly from
vendor to vendor, this job can't be done by the Debian developers.)
shipped for <em>i386</em> and <em>m68k</em> architectures. Debian 2.1
ships for the <em>i386</em>, <em>m68k</em>, <em>alpha</em>, and
<em>sparc</em> architectures. Debian 2.2 adds support for the
-<em>powerpc</em> architecture.
+<em>powerpc</em> and <em>arm</em> architectures.
<p>
Information for developers or uses about the specific ports are
available at the <url id="&url-debian-ports;" name="Debian Ports web
The sections <em>main</em>, <em>contrib</em>, and <em>non-free</em>
are split into <em>subsections</em> to simplify the installation
process and the maintainance of the archive. Subsections are not
-formally defined, excepting perhaps the `base' subsection.
-Subsections exist simply to simplify the organization and browsing of
+formally defined, except perhaps the `base' subsection.
+Subsections simply exist to simplify the organization and browsing of
available packages. Please check the current Debian distribution to
see which sections are available.
-
+ <p>
+Note however that with the introduction of package pools (see the top-level
+<em>pool/</em> directory), the subsections in the form of subdirectories
+will eventually cease to exist. They will be kept in the packages' `Section'
+header fields, though.
<sect>Packages
<p>
<sect>Distribution directories
<p>
-The directory system described in the previous chapter, are themselves
-contained within <em>distribution directories</em>. Every
-distribution is contained in the <tt>dists</tt> directory in the
-top-level of the Debian archive itself (the symlinks from the
-top-level directory to the distributions themselves are for backwards
-compatability and are deprecated).
+The directory system described in the previous chapter is itself
+contained within <em>distribution directories</em>. Each
+distribution is actually contained in the <tt>pool</tt> directory in the
+top-level of the Debian archive itself.
<p>
To summarize, the Debian archive has a root directory within an FTP
server. For instance, at the mirror site,
contained in <ftppath>/debian</ftppath>, which is a common location
(another is <ftppath>/pub/debian</ftppath>).
<p>
-Within that archive root, the actual distributions are contained in
-the <tt>dists</tt> directory. Here is an overview of the layout:
- <p>
-<example>
-<var>archive root</var>/dists/<var>distribution</var>/<var>section</var>/<var>architecture</var>/<var>subsection</var>/<var>packages</var>
-</example>
+A distribution is comprised of Debian source and binary packages, and the
+respective <tt>Sources</tt> and <tt>Packages</tt> index files, containing
+the header information from all those packages. The former are kept in the
+<tt>pool/</tt> directory, while the latter are kept in the <tt>dists/</tt>
+directory of the archive (because of backwards compatibility).
-Extrapolating from this layout, you know that to find the i386 base
-packages for the distribution <em>slink</em>, you would look in
-<ftppath>/debian/dists/slink/main/binary-i386/base/</ftppath>.
- <sect1>Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen
+ <sect1>Stable, testing, unstable, and sometimes frozen
<p>
There is always a distribution called <em>stable</em> (residing in
-<tt>dists/stable</tt>) and one called <em>unstable</em> (residing in
+<tt>dists/stable</tt>), one called <em>testing</em> (residing in
+<tt>dists/testing</tt>), and one called <em>unstable</em> (residing in
<tt>dists/unstable</tt>). This reflects the development process of the
Debian project.
<p>
distribution</em>). Every Debian developer can update his or her
packages in this distribution at any time. Thus, the contents of this
distribution change from day-to-day. Since no special effort is done
-to test this distribution, it is sometimes ``unstable.''
- <p>
-After a period of development, the <em>unstable</em> distribution is
-copied in a new distribution directory, called <em>frozen</em>. When
-that occurs, no changes are allowed to the frozen distribution except
+to make sure everything in this distribution is working properly, it is
+sometimes ``unstable.''
+ <p>
+Packages get copied from <em>unstable</em> to <em>testing</em> if they
+satisfy certain criteria. To get into <em>testing</em> distribution, a
+package needs to be in the archive for two weeks and not have any release
+critical bugs. After that period, it will propagate into <em>testing</em>
+as soon as anything it depends on is also added. This process is automatic.
+ <p>
+After a period of development, once the release manager deems fit, the
+<em>testing</em> distribution is renamed to <em>frozen</em>. Once
+that has been done, no changes are allowed to that distribution except
bug fixes; that's why it's called ``frozen.'' After another month or
-a little longer, the <em>frozen</em> distribution is renamed to
-<em>stable</em>, overriding the old <em>stable</em> distribution,
+a little longer, depending on the progress, the <em>frozen</em> distribution
+goes into a `deep freeze', when no changes are made to it except those
+needed for the installation system. This is called a ``test cycle'', and it
+can last up to two weeks. There can be several test cycles, until the
+distribution is prepared for release, as decided by the release manager.
+At the end of the last test cycle, the <em>frozen</em> distribution is
+renamed to <em>stable</em>, overriding the old <em>stable</em> distribution,
which is removed at that time.
<p>
This development cycle is based on the assumption that the
and the revision level of the stable distribution is incremented
(e.g., `1.3' becomes `1.3r1', `2.0r2' becomes `2.0r3', and so forth).
<p>
-Note that development under <em>unstable</em> is continued during the
-``freeze'' period, since a new <em>unstable</em> distribution is be
-created when the older <em>unstable</em> is moved to <em>frozen</em>.
+Note that development under <em>unstable</em> continues during the
+``freeze'' period, since the <em>unstable</em> distribution remains in
+place when the <em>testing</em> is moved to <em>frozen</em>.
Another wrinkle is that when the <em>frozen</em> distribution is
offically released, the old stable distribution is completely removed
from the Debian archives (although they do live on at
<tt>archive-host;</tt>).
<p>
-In summary, there is always a <em>stable</em> and an <em>unstable</em>
-distribution available, and the <em>frozen</em> distribution shows up
-for a month or so from time to time.
+In summary, there is always a <em>stable</em>, a <em>testing</em> and an
+<em>unstable</em> distribution available, and a <em>frozen</em> distribution
+shows up for a couple of months from time to time.
<sect1>Experimental
+<!-- Note: experimental is currently dead because of the package pools.
+ Once that changes, the description below will most probably need
+ adjustments. -->
<p>
The <em>experimental</em> distribution is a specialty distribution.
-It is not a full distribution in the same sense that `stable' and
+It is not a full distribution in the same sense as `stable' and
`unstable' are. Instead, it is meant to be a temporary staging area
for highly experimental software where there's a good chance that the
software could break your system. Users who download and install
<p>
Developers should be very selective in the use of the
<em>experimental</em> distribution. Even if a package is highly
-unstable, it could well still go into <em>unstable</em>; just state a
+unstable, it could still go into <em>unstable</em>; just state a
few warnings in the description. However, if there is a chance that
the software could do grave damage to a system, it might be better to
put it into <em>experimental</em>.
<p>
However, using <em>experimental</em> as a personal staging area is not
always the best idea. You can't replace or upgrade the files in there
-on your own (<prgn>dinstall</prgn> and the Debian archive maintainers
-do that). Additionally, you'll have to remember to ask the archive
-maintainers to delete the package one you have uploaded it to
+on your own (it is done with Debian archive maintenance software).
+Additionally, you'll have to remember to ask the archive
+maintainers to delete the package once you have uploaded it to
<em>unstable</em>. Using your personal web space on
-<tt>va.debian.org</tt> is generally a better idea, so that you put
+<tt>klecker.debian.org</tt> is generally a better idea, so that you put
less strain on the Debian archive maintainers.
Every released Debian distribution has a <em>code name</em>: Debian
1.1 is called `buzz'; Debian 1.2, `rex'; Debian 1.3, `bo'; Debian 2.0,
`hamm'; Debian 2.1, `slink'; and Debian 2.2, `potato'. There is also
-a ``pseudo-distribution'', called `sid' which is contains packages for
-architectures which are not yet officially supported or released by
-Debian. These architectures are planned to be integrated into the
-mainstream distribution at some future date.
- <p>
-Since the Debian has an open development model (i.e., everyone can
-participate and follow the development) even the unstable distribution
-is distributed via the Internet on the Debian FTP and HTTP server
-network. Thus, if we had called the directory which contains the
-development version `unstable', then we would have to rename it to
-`stable' when the version is released, which would cause all FTP
-mirrors to re-retrieve the whole distribution (which is already very
-large!).
+a ``pseudo-distribution'', called `sid', which is the current
+`unstable' distribution; since packages are moved from `unstable' to
+`testing' as they approach stability, `sid' itself is never released.
+As well as the usual contents of a Debian distribution, `sid' contains
+packages for architectures which are not yet officially supported or
+released by Debian. These architectures are planned to be integrated
+into the mainstream distribution at some future date.
+ <p>
+Since Debian has an open development model (i.e., everyone can
+participate and follow the development) even the `unstable' and `testing'
+distributions are distributed to the Internet through the Debian FTP and
+HTTP server network. Thus, if we had called the directory which contains
+the release candidate version `testing', then we would have to rename it
+to `stable' when the version is released, which would cause all FTP
+mirrors to re-retrieve the whole distribution (which is quite large).
<p>
On the other hand, if we called the distribution directories
<em>Debian-x.y</em> from the beginning, people would think that Debian
1.1, and not 1.0.)
<p>
Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the archive are
-determined by their code names and not their release status (i.e.,
+determined by their code names and not their release status (e.g.,
`slink'). These names stay the same during the development period and
-after the release; symbolic links, which can be changed, are made to
+after the release; symbolic links, which can be changed easily,
indicate the currently released stable distribution. That's why the
-real distribution directories use the <em>code names</em> and symbolic
-links for <em>stable</em>, <em>unstable</em>, and <em>frozen</em>
-point to the appropriate release directories.
+real distribution directories use the <em>code names</em>, while symbolic
+links for <em>stable</em>, <em>testing</em>, <em>unstable</em>, and
+<em>frozen</em> point to the appropriate release directories.
<chapt id="upload">Package uploads
no one is already working on packaging that software, and that effort is
not duplicated. Read the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages"> for
more information.
+ <p>
+Assuming no one else is already working on your prospective package,
+you must then submit a short bug (<ref id="submit-bug">) against the
+pseudo package <tt>wnpp</tt> and send a copy to &email-debian-devel;
+describing your plan to create a new package, including, but not
+limiting yourself to, a description of the package, the license of the
+prospective package and the current URL where it can be downloaded
+from. You should set the subject of the bug to ``ITP: <var>foo</var>
+-- <var>short description</var>'', substituting the name of the new
+package for <var>foo</var>. The severity of the bug report must be
+set to <em>wishlist</em>. Please include a <tt>Closes:
+bug#<var>nnnnn</var></tt> entry on the changelog of the new package in
+order for the bug report to be automatically closed once the new
+package is installed on the archive (<ref id="upload-bugfix">).
<p>
There are a number of reasons why we ask maintainers to announce their
intentions:
<list compact>
<item>
It helps the (potentially new) maintainer to tap into the experience
-of people on the list, and lets them know if any one else is working
+of people on the list, and lets them know if anyone else is working
on it already.
<item>
It lets other people thinking about working on the package know that
-there already is a volunteer, and efforts may be shared.
+there already is a volunteer, so efforts may be shared.
<item>
It lets the rest of the maintainers know more about the package than
the one line description and the usual changelog entry ``Initial release''
that gets posted to <tt>debian-devel-changes</tt>.
<item>
It is helpful to the people who live off unstable (and form our first
-line of testers); we should encourage these people.
+line of testers). We should encourage these people.
<item>
The announcements give maintainers and other interested parties a
better feel of what is going on, and what is new, in the project.
</list>
+
+
<sect id="uploading">Uploading a package
<sect1>Generating the changes file
<file>debian/changelog</file> file, indicates which distribution the
package is intended for. There are four possible values for this
field: `stable', `unstable', `frozen', or `experimental'; these values
-can also be combined. For instance, if you have a crucial security
-fix release of a package, and the package has not diverged between the
-<em>stable</em> and <em>unstable</em> distributions, then you might
-put `stable unstable' in the <file>changelog</file>'s
-<tt>Distribution</tt> field. Or, if Debian has been frozen, and you
+can also be combined. Or, if Debian has been frozen, and you
want to get a bug-fix release into <em>frozen</em>, you would set the
distribution to `frozen unstable'. (See <ref id="upload-frozen"> for
more information on when to upload to <em>frozen</em>.) Note that it
never makes sense to combine the <em>experimental</em> distribution with
-anything else. Also note that setting the distribution to `stable' means
+anything else.
+ <p>
+You should avoid combining `stable' with others because of potential
+problems with library dependencies (for your package and for the package
+built by the build daemons for other architecture).
+Also note that setting the distribution to `stable' means
that the package will be placed into the <tt>proposed-updates</tt>
directory of the Debian archive for further testing before it is actually
included in <em>stable</em>. The Release Team (which can be reached at
them a short explication.
<p>
The first time a version is uploaded which corresponds to a particular
-upstream version the original source tar file should be uploaded and
-included in the <tt>.changes</tt> file; subsequent times the very same
+upstream version, the original source tar file should be uploaded and
+included in the <tt>.changes</tt> file. Subsequently, this very same
tar file should be used to build the new diffs and <tt>.dsc</tt>
-files, and it need not then be uploaded.
+files, and will not need to be re-uploaded.
<p>
-By default <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and
+By default
, <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and
<prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn> will include the original source tar
file if and only if the Debian revision part of the source version
number is 0 or 1, indicating a new upstream version. This behaviour
may be modified by using <tt>-sa</tt> to always include it or
<tt>-sd</tt> to always leave it out.
<p>
-If no original source is included in the upload then the original
+If no original source is included in the upload, the original
source tar-file used by <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn> when constructing the
<tt>.dsc</tt> file and diff to be uploaded <em>must</em> be
byte-for-byte identical with the one already in the archive. If there
-is some reason why this is not the case then the new version of the
+is some reason why this is not the case, the new version of the
original source should be uploaded, possibly by using the <tt>-sa</tt>
flag.
<list>
<item>
Fixes for bugs of severity <em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em>, or
-<em>important</em> severity are always allowed for those packages that
+<em>serious</em> severity are always allowed for those packages that
must exist in the final release
<item>
-<em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em>, and <em>important</em> bug fixes
-are only allowed for non-necessary packages if they don't add any new
+<em>critical</em>, <em>grave</em>, and <em>serious</em> bug fixes are
+allowed for non-necessary packages but only if they don't add any new
features
<item>
-normal bug fixes are allowed (though discouraged) on all packages if
-and only if there are no new features
+important, normal and minor bug fixes are allowed (though discouraged)
+on all packages if and only if there are no new features
<item>
wishlist fixes are not allowed (they are, after all, not really bugs)
<item>
important
</list>
<p>
-Remember, there is statistically a 15% chance that every bug fix will
-introduce a new bug. The introduction and discovery of new bugs
-either delays release or weakens the final product. There is little
-correlation between the severity of the original bug and the severity
-of the introduced bug.
+Experience has shown that there is statistically a 15% chance that
+every bug fix will introduce a new bug. The introduction and
+discovery of new bugs either delays release or weakens the final
+product. There is little correlation between the severity of the
+original bug fixed and the severity of the bug newly introduced by the
+fix.
<sect1 id="upload-checking">Checking the package prior to upload
<p>
-Before you upload your package, you should do basic testing on it.
-Make sure you try the following activities (you'll need to have an
-older version of the Debian package around).
+Before you upload your package, you should do basic testing on it. At
+a minimum, you should try the following activities (you'll need to
+have an older version of the same Debian package around):
<list>
<item>
Install the package and make sure the software works, or upgrade the
if you use anonymous FTP to upload, place them into
<ftppath>/pub/UploadQueue/</ftppath>.
<p>
-<em>Note:</em> Do not upload packages containing software that is
-export-controlled by the United States government to <tt>ftp-master</tt>,
-nor to the overseas upload queues on <tt>chiark</tt> or
+<em>Note:</em> Do not upload to <tt>ftp-master</tt> packages
+containing software that is export-controlled by the United States
+government, nor to the overseas upload queues on <tt>chiark</tt> or
<tt>erlangen</tt>. This prohibition covers almost all cryptographic
software, and even sometimes software that contains ``hooks'' to
cryptographic software, such as electronic mail readers that support
use <prgn>ssh</prgn> or <prgn>rsync</prgn>. See <manref name="dupload"
section="1"> and <manref name="dupload" section="5"> for more information.
<p>
-After uploading your package, you can check how dinstall will
-process it by running dinstall on your changes file:
-<example>/org/ftp.debian.org/scripts/dinstall/dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
+After uploading your package, you can check how the archive maintenance
+software will process it by running <prgn>dinstall</prgn> on your changes
+file: <example>dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
<sect1 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>non-us</tt> (pandora)
<p>
<tt>non-us</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with
the program for details.
<p>
-Similar to the way it's done on <tt>ftp-master</tt>, you can check your
-upload with:
-<example>
-/org/non-us.debian.org/scripts/dinstall/dinstall -n foo.changes
-</example>
+You can check your upload the same way it's done on <tt>ftp-master</tt>,
+with:
+<example>dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
<sect1>Uploads via <tt>chiark</tt>
<p>
along with the other files mentioned in the <tt>.changes</tt>. The
queue daemon also checks that the <tt>.changes</tt> is correctly
PGP-signed by a Debian developer, so that no bogus files can find
-their way to <tt>ftp-master</tt> via the queue. Please also make sure that
+their way to <tt>ftp-master</tt> via this queue. Please also make sure that
the <tt>Maintainer</tt> field in the <tt>.changes</tt> contains
<em>your</em> e-mail address. The address found there is used for all
replies, just as on <tt>ftp-master</tt>.
<p>
There's no need to move your files into a second directory after the
-upload as on <tt>chiark</tt>. And, in any case, you should get some
-mail reply from the queue daemon what happened to your
+upload, as on <tt>chiark</tt>. And, in any case, you should get a
+mail reply from the queue daemon explaining what happened to your
upload. Hopefully it should have been moved to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, but in
case of errors you're notified, too.
<p>
<sect id="upload-announce">Announcing package uploads
<p>
-When a package is uploaded an announcement should be posted to one of
-the ``debian-changes'' lists. This is now done automatically by dinstall
-when it runs (usually once a day), you just need to use a recent
-<package>dpkg-dev</package> (>= 1.4.1.2). Before that,
-<prgn>dupload</prgn> was used to send those announcements, please make
-sure that you configured your <prgn>dupload</prgn> to no more send those
-announcements (check its documentation and look for dinstall_runs). The
-mail generated by dinstall will contain the PGP/GPG signed .changes files
-that you uploaded with your package.
+When a package is uploaded, an announcement should be posted to one of
+the ``debian-changes'' lists. This is now done automatically by the archive
+maintenance software when it runs (usually once a day). You just need to use
+a recent <package>dpkg-dev</package> (>= 1.4.1.2). The mail generated by
+the archive maintenance software will contain the PGP/GPG signed
+<tt>.changes</tt> files that you uploaded with your package.
+Previously, <prgn>dupload</prgn> used to send those announcements, so
+please make sure that you configured your <prgn>dupload</prgn> not to
+send those announcements (check its documentation and look for
+``dinstall_runs'').
<p>
If a package is released with the <tt>Distribution:</tt> set to
`stable', the announcement is sent to &email-debian-changes;. If a
such a case the upload announcement will go to both of the above
mailing lists.
<p>
-The <prgn>dupload</prgn> program is clever enough to determine for itself
+The <prgn>dupload</prgn> program is clever enough to determine
where the announcement should go, and will automatically mail the
announcement to the right list. See <ref id="dupload">.
<p>
The Debian archive maintainers are responsible for handling package
uploads. For the most part, uploads are automatically handled on a
-daily basis by an archive maintenance tool called
-<prgn>dinstall</prgn>. Specifically, updates to existing packages to
+daily basis by archive maintenance tools `dak'
+(also referred to as <prgn>katie</prgn> or <prgn>dinstall</prgn>).
+Specifically, updates to existing packages to
the `unstable' distribution are handled automatically. In other cases,
notably new packages, placing the uploaded package into the
distribution is handled manually. When uploads are handled manually,
-the change to the archive may take up to a week to occur (please be
-patient).
+the change to the archive may take up to a month to occur. Please be
+patient.
<p>
-In any case, you will receive notification indicating that the package
-has been uploaded via email. Please examine this notification
+In any case, you will receive email notification indicating that the
+package has been uploaded. Please examine this notification
carefully. You may notice that the package didn't go into the section
you thought you set it to go into. Read on for why.
is not the official maintainer of that package. That is why it's a
<em>non-maintainer</em> upload.
<p>
-A source NMU is a upload of a package by a developer who is not the
+A source NMU is an upload of a package by a developer who is not the
official maintainer, for the purposes of fixing a bug in the package.
Source NMUs always involves changes to the source (even if it is just
a change to <file>debian/changelog</file>). This can be either a change
<p>
A binary NMU is a recompilation and upload of a binary package for a
new architecture. As such, it is usually part of a porting effort. A
-binary NMU is non-maintainer uploaded binary version of a package
+binary NMU is a non-maintainer uploaded binary version of a package
(often for another architecture), with no source changes required.
There are many cases where porters must fix problems in the source in
order to get them to compile for their target architecture; that would
circumstances (see <ref id="source-nmu-when-porter">).
<p>
Only critical changes or security bug fixes make it into stable. When
-a security bug is detected a fixed package should be uploaded as soon
+a security bug is detected, a fixed package should be uploaded as soon
as possible. In this case, the Debian Security Managers should get in
contact with the package maintainer to make sure a fixed package is
uploaded within a reasonable time (less than 48 hours). If the package
package (i.e., do a source NMU).
<p>
During the release freeze (see <ref id="upload-frozen">), NMUs which
-fix important or higher severity bugs are encouraged and accepted.
+fix serious or higher severity bugs are encouraged and accepted.
Even during this window, however, you should endeavor to reach the
current maintainer of the package; they might be just about to upload
a fix for the problem. As with any source NMU, the guidelines found
the need to announce the NMU to the proper lists.
<p>
Make sure you do <em>not</em> change the value of the maintainer in
-the <file>debian/control</file> file. Your name from the NMU entry of
+the <file>debian/control</file> file. Your name as given in the NMU entry of
the <file>debian/changelog</file> file will be used for signing the
changes file.
portability. Therefore, even if you are not a porter, you should read
most of this chapter.
<p>
-Porting is the act of building Debian packages for architectures which
+Porting is the act of building Debian packages for architectures that
is different from the original architecture of the package
maintainer's binary package. It is a unique and essential activity.
In fact, porters do most of the actual compiling of Debian packages.
-For instance, for one <em>i386</em> binary package, there has to be a
-recompile for each architecture, which is around five more builds.
+For instance, for a single <em>i386</em> binary package, there must be a
+recompile for each architecture, which is amounts to five more builds.
<sect id="kind-to-porters">Being Kind to Porters
<p>
Porters have a difficult and unique task, since they are required to
deal with a large volume of packages. Ideally, every source package
-should build right out of the box; unfortunately, this is often not
+should build right out of the box. Unfortunately, this is often not
the case. This section contains a checklist of ``gotchas'' often
committed by Debian maintainers -- common problems which often stymie
porters, and make their jobs unnecessarily more difficult.
<item>
Don't set architecture to a value other than ``all'' or ``any'' unless
you really mean it. In too many cases, maintainers don't follow the
-instructions in the <url
-id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/packaging.html/"
-name="Debian Packaging Manual">. Setting your architecture to ``i386''
-is usually incorrect.
+instructions in the <url id="&url-pkg-manual;" name="Debian Packaging
+Manual">. Setting your architecture to ``i386'' is usually incorrect.
<item>
Make sure your source package is correct. Do <tt>dpkg-source -x
<var>package</var>.dsc</tt> to make sure your source package unpacks
be setup in a special way. Try building your package on another
machine, even if it's the same architecture.
<item>
-Don't depend on the package your building already being installed (a
+Don't depend on the package you're building already being installed (a
sub-case of the above issue).
<item>
Don't rely on <prgn>egcc</prgn> being available; don't rely on
not need to touch any of the files in the source package. This
includes <file>debian/changelog</file>.
<p>
-Sometimes you need to recompile a packages against other packages
+Sometimes you need to recompile a package against other packages
which have been updated, such as libraries. You do have to bump the
version number in this case, so that the upgrade system can function
properly. Even so, these are considered binary-only NMUs -- there is
none of this is Policy, just mutually agreed upon guidelines.)
<p>
Secondly, porters doing source NMUs should make sure that the bug they
-submit to the BTS should be of severity `important' or greater. This
+submit to the BTS should be of severity `serious' or greater. This
ensures that a single source package can be used to compile every
supported Debian architecture by release time. It is very important
that we have one version of the binary and source package for all
<sect>Moving packages
<p>
-Sometimes a package will change either its section. For instance, a
+Sometimes a package will change its section. For instance, a
package from the `non-free' section might be GPL'd in a later version,
in which case, the package should be moved to `main' or
`contrib'.<footnote> See the <url id="&url-debian-policy;"
archive. If for some reason the old location of the package remains,
file a bug against <tt>ftp.debian.org</tt> asking that the old
location be removed. Give details on what you did, since it might be
-a <prgn>dinstall</prgn> bug.
+a bug in the archive maintenance software.
<p>
If, on the other hand, you need to change the <em>subsection</em> of
one of your packages (e.g., ``devel'', ``admin''), the procedure is
slightly different. Correct the subsection as found in the control
-file of the package, and reupload that. Also, you'll need to update
-the override file, as described in <ref id="override-file">.
+file of the package, and reupload that. Also, you'll need to get the
+override file updated, as described in <ref id="override-file">.
<sect id="removing-pkgs">Removing packages
<sect id="orphaning">Orphaning a package
<p>
If you can no longer maintain a package, you need to inform the others
-about that, and see that the package is marked as orphaned. Read
-instructions on the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages"> for more
-information.
+about that, and see that the package is marked as orphaned.
+you should set the package maintainer to <tt>Debian QA Group
+<debian-qa@lists.debian.org></tt> and submit a bug report
+against the pseudo package <tt>wnpp</tt>. The bug report should be
+titled <tt>O: <var>package</var> -- <var>short description</var></tt>
+indicating that the package is now orphaned. The severity of the bug
+should be set to <em>normal</em>. If the package is especially
+crucial to Debian, you should instead submit a bug against
+<tt>wnpp</tt> and title it <tt>RFA: <var>package</var> -- <var>short
+description</var></tt> and set its severity to <em>important</em>. You
+should also email &email-debian-devel; asking for a new maintainer.
+ <p>
+Read instructions on the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages">
+for more information.
<sect id="adopting">Adopting a package
<p>
<url name="Work-Needing and Prospective Packages list (WNPP)"
id="&url-wnpp;">. If you wish to take over maintenance of any of the
packages listed in the WNPP, please take a look at the aforementioned
-page for more information.
+page for information and procedures.
<p>
It is not OK to simply take over a package that you feel is neglected
-- that would be package hijacking. You can, of course, contact the
If you take over an old package, you probably want to be listed as the
package's official maintainer in the bug system. This will happen
automatically once you upload a new version with an updated
-<tt>Maintainer:</tt> field, although it can take a couple of weeks. If
-you do not expect to upload a new version for a while, send an email
-to &email-override; so that bug reports will go to you right away.
+<tt>Maintainer:</tt> field, although it can take a few hours after the
+upload is done. If you do not expect to upload a new version for a while,
+send an email to &email-override; so that bug reports will go to you
+right away.
<p>
Maintainers interact with the BTS via email addresses at
<tt>bugs.debian.org</tt>. Documentation on available commands can be
-found at <url id="http://www.debian.org/Bugs/">, or, if you have
-installed the <package>debian-doc</package> package, you can look at
-the local files <file>/usr/doc/debian/bug-*</file>.
+found at <url id="&url-bts;">, or, if you have installed the
+<package>doc-debian</package> package, you can look at the local files
+<file>/usr/doc/debian/bug-*</file>.
<p>
Some find it useful to get periodic reports on open bugs. You can add
a cron job such as the following if you want to get a weekly email
For extra credit, you can go through other packages, merging bugs
which are reported more than once, or setting bug severities to
`fixed' when they have already been fixed. Note that when you are
-neither the bug submitter nor the package maintainer, you are should
+neither the bug submitter nor the package maintainer, you should
not actually close the bug (unless you secure permission from the
maintainer).
notification that your updated package has been installed into the
archive, you can and should close the bug in the BTS.
<p>
-If you are using a new version of <package>dpkg-dev</package> and you
-do your changelog entry properly, <prgn>dinstall</prgn> will close the
-bugs automatically. All you have to do is follow a certain syntax
-in your <file>debian/changelog</file> file:
+If you are using a new version of <package>dpkg-dev</package> and you do
+your changelog entry properly, the archive maintenance software will close
+the bugs automatically. All you have to do is follow a certain syntax in
+your <file>debian/changelog</file> file:
<example>
acme-cannon (3.1415) unstable; urgency=low
* Frobbed with options (closes: Bug#98339)
- * Added safety to prevent operator dismemberment, closes: bug #98765,
- bug #98713, #98714.
- * Added manpage. closes: #98725.
+ * Added safety to prevent operator dismemberment, closes: bug#98765,
+ bug#98713, #98714.
+ * Added manpage. Closes: #98725.
</example>
Technically speaking, the following Perl regular expression is what is
used:
<example>
- /closes:\s*(bug)?\#\d+(,\s*(bug)?\#\d+)*/gi
+ /closes:\s*(?:bug)?\#\s*\d+(?:,\s*(?:bug)?\#\s*\d+)*/ig
</example>
The author prefers the <tt>(closes: Bug#<var>XXX</var>)</tt> syntax,
<p>
<package>equivs</package> is another package for making packages. It
is often suggested for local use if you need to make a package simply
-to fulfill dependancies. It is also sometimes used when making
+to fulfill dependencies. It is also sometimes used when making
``meta-packages'', which are packages whose only purpose is to depend
on other packages.
~ianmdlvl / developers-reference.git / blobdiff