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The resources discussed in this reference include the mailing lists
and servers (<ref id="servers">); a discussion of the structure of the
Debian archive (<ref id="archive">); explanation of the different
-servers which accept package uploads (<ref id="upload-master">); and a
+servers which accept package uploads (<ref id="upload-ftp-master">); and a
discussion of resources which can help maintainers with the quality of
their packages (<ref id="tools">).
<p>
maintainers before we can give them accounts on our servers and
letting them upload packages.
<p>
-Registration requires that the following information be sent to
-&email-new-maintainer; as part of the registration application:
+Registration requires that the following information be sent in
+appropriate steps described at <url id="&url-newmaint-checklist;"
+ name="Checklist for applicants">
+after the initial contact to &email-new-maintainer:
+
<list>
<item>
Your name.
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.
available on public key servers, send a message to
&email-new-maintainer; to register as an offical Debian developer so
that you will be able to upload your packages. This message must
-contain all the information discussed above. The message must also
-contain your public key (extracted using <tt>gpg --armor --export
-<var>user_id</var></tt> in the case of <prgn>gpg</prgn>) for the
-database of keys which is distributed from
-<url id="&url-debian-keyring;"> and the <package>debian-keyring</package>
-package. Please be sure to sign your request message with your chosen
-public key.
+contain your name and your valid e-mail address. All the information
+discussed above is required after your Application Manager is
+assigned. Application Manager is your agent in the registration
+process, and you can always ask him about the status of your
+application. You can check the <url id="&url-newmaint-db;"
+name="Application StatusBoard"> as well.
+ <p>
+For more details, please consult <url id="&url-newmaint;" name="New
+Maintainer's Corner"> at the Debian web site.
<p>
Once this information is received and processed, you should be
contacted with information about your new Debian maintainer account.
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
+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
Read the documentation that comes with your software; read the <url
id="&url-pgp-faq;" name="PGP FAQ">.
<p>
-If you add or remove signatures from your public key, or add or remove
-user identities, you need to update the key servers and mail your
-public key to &email-debian-keyring;. The same key extraction
-routines discussed in <ref id="registering"> apply.
+If you add signatures to your public key, or add user identities, you
+can update the debian keyring by sending your key to the key server at
+<tt>&keyserver-host;</tt>. If you need to add a completely new key,
+or remove an old key, send mail to &email-debian-keyring;. The same
+key extraction routines discussed in <ref id="registering"> apply.
<p>
You can find a more in-depth discussion of Debian key maintenance in
the documentation for the <package>debian-keyring</package> package.
<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
<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 »
(this information is only accessible to debian developers). Don't forget
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 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 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 (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
it to see the responses.
<p>
The following are the core Debian mailing lists: &email-debian-devel;,
-&email-debian-policy;, &email-debian-user;, &email-debian-private;,
+&email-debian-policy;, &email-debian-user;
+
+<!-- FIXME: &email-debian-user; results in same as does -->
+<!-- &email-debian-policy; - possibly an error in common.ent? -->
+
+, &email-debian-private;,
&email-debian-announce;, and &email-debian-devel-announce;. All
developers are expected to be subscribed to at least
-&email-debian-private and &email-debian-devel-announce;. There are
+&email-debian-private; and &email-debian-devel-announce;. There are
other mailing lists are available for a variety of special topics; see
<url id="&url-debian-lists-subscribe;"> for a list. Cross-posting
(sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.
posting messages.
<p>
Online archives of mailing lists are available at <url
-id="&url-debian-list-archives;">.
+id="&url-lists-archives;">.
<sect id="server-machines">Debian servers
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 role at <url
-id="&url-debian-contacts;">. If you have a non-operating problems
+please find the contact address for the particular machine at <url
+id="&url-devel-machines;">. If you have a non-operating problems
(such as packages to be remove, suggestions for the web site, etc.),
generally you'll report a bug against a ``pseudo-package''. See <ref
id="submit-bug"> for information on how to submit bugs.
<sect1 id="servers-master">The master server
<p>
-The master server, <tt>master.debian.org</tt>, holds the canonical copy
-of the Debian archive (excluding the non-U.S. packages). Generally,
-package uploads go to this server; see <ref id="upload">.
- <p>
<tt>master.debian.org</tt> is the canonical location for the Bug
Tracking System (BTS). If you plan on doing some statistical analysis
or processing of Debian bugs, this would be the place to do it.
<p>
If you find a problem with <tt>master.debian.org</tt> such as disk
full, suspicious activity, or whatever, send an email to
-&email-debian-admin;. Problems with the Debian FTP archive generally
-need to be reported as bugs against the
-<package>ftp.debian.org</package> pseudo-package or an email to
-&email-ftpmaster;, but also see the procedures in <ref
-id="archive-manip">.
+&email-debian-admin;.
+
+ <sect1 id="servers-ftp-master">The ftp-master server
+ <p>
+The ftp-master server, <tt>ftp-master.debian.org</tt> (or
+<tt>auric.debian.org</tt>), holds the canonical copy of the Debian
+archive (excluding the non-U.S. packages). Generally, package uploads
+go to this server; see <ref id="upload">.
+ <p>
+Problems with the Debian FTP archive generally need to be reported as
+bugs against the <package>ftp.debian.org</package> pseudo-package or
+an email to &email-ftpmaster;, but also see the procedures in
+<ref id="archive-manip">.
- <sect1 id="servers-www">The WWW servers
+ <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
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
+up on the web, you can do this by putting material in the
<file>public_html</file> directory under your home directory. You can
-do this on either <tt>va.debian.org</tt> or
-<tt>master.debian.org</tt>. Any material you put in those areas are
-accessible via the URLs
-<tt>http://www.debian.org/~<var>user-id</var>/</tt> and
-<tt>http://master.debian.org/~<var>user-id</var>/</tt>, respectively.
-Generally, you'll want to use <tt>va</tt>, for the
-<tt>www.debian.org</tt> address, although in some cases you may need
-to put it on <tt>master</tt>. 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.
+do this on <tt>va.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
+servers not relating to Debian, unless you have prior permission.
+Send mail to &email-debian-devel; if you have any questions.
<p>
If you find a problem with the Debian web server, you should generally
submit a bug against the pseudo-package,
<package>www.debian.org</package>. First check whether or not someone
-else has already reported the problem on the <url
-id="&url-bts;db/pa/lwww.debian.org.html" name="Bug Tracking System">.
+else has already reported the problem on the
+<url id="http://bugs.debian.org/www.debian.org" name="Bug Tracking System">.
<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
+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>
Note that mirrors are generally run by third-parties who are
interested in helping Debian. As such, developers generally do not
have accounts on these machines.
- <p>
-Please do not mirror off of <tt>master.debian.org</tt>. This host
-already has too much load. Check the sites above for information, or
-email <email>debian-devel@lists.debian.org</email>.
<sect id="other-machines">Other Debian Machines
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 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
<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.)
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.
<sect>Distribution directories
<p>
-The directory system described in the previous chapter, are themselves
-contained within <em>distribution directories</em>. Every
+The directory system described in the previous chapter is itself
+contained within <em>distribution directories</em>. Each
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
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
+copied to a new distribution directory, called <em>frozen</em>. After
+that has been done, no changes are allowed to the frozen 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,
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
+Note that development under <em>unstable</em> continues 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>.
Another wrinkle is that when the <em>frozen</em> distribution is
<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
+distribution available, and a <em>frozen</em> distribution shows up
for a month or so from time to time.
<sect1>Experimental
<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>.
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
+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
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
+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
+Since 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
+is distributed to the Internet through 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!).
+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
Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the archive are
determined by their code names and not their release status (i.e.,
`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
+real distribution directories use the <em>code names</em>, while symbolic
links for <em>stable</em>, <em>unstable</em>, and <em>frozen</em>
point to the appropriate release directories.
<p>
If you want to create a new package for the Debian distribution, you
should first check the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="Work-Needing and
-Prospective Packages (WNPP)"> list. Checking the WNPP ensures that no
-one is already working on packaging that software, and that effort is
+Prospective Packages (WNPP)"> list. Checking the WNPP list ensures that
+no one is already working on packaging that software, and that effort is
not duplicated. Read the <url id="&url-wnpp;" name="WNPP web pages"> for
more information.
- <p>
-There are a number of reasons why we ask maintainers to follow these
-steps:
+ <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>normal</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. The ``intent
-to package'' message to &email-debian-devel@; will be picked up the
-the WNPP maintainer, and your intention will be published in
-subsequent versions of the WNPP document.
+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 changelog entry ``Initial version''
-that generally gets posted to <tt>debian-devel-changes</tt> by
-default.
+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
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.
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
</list>
- <sect1 id="upload-master">Uploading to <tt>master</tt>
+ <sect1 id="upload-ftp-master">Uploading to <tt>ftp-master</tt>
<p>
To upload a package, you need a personal account on
-<ftpsite>master.debian.org</ftpsite>. All maintainers should already
-have this account, see <ref id="servers-master">. You can use either
-<prgn>scp</prgn> or <prgn>ftp</prgn> to transfer the files. In either
-case, the files need to be placed into
-<ftppath>&master-upload-dir</ftppath>. (You cannot upload to Incoming
-on master using anonymous FTP -- you must use your user-name and
-password.)
+<ftpsite>ftp-master.debian.org</ftpsite>, which you should have as an
+official maintainer. If you use <prgn>scp</prgn> or <prgn>rsync</prgn>
+to transfer the files, place them into <ftppath>&us-upload-dir;</ftppath>;
+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>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
<p>
You may also find the Debian package <package>dupload</package> useful
when uploading packages. This handy program is distributed with
-defaults for uploading via <prgn>ftp</prgn> to <tt>master</tt>,
+defaults for uploading via <prgn>ftp</prgn> to <tt>ftp-master</tt>,
<tt>chiark</tt>, and <tt>erlangen</tt>. It can also be configured to
-use <prgn>ssh</prgn>. See <manref name="dupload" section="1"> and
-<manref name="dupload" section="5"> for more information.
+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>~maor/dinstall/dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
+<example>/org/ftp.debian.org/scripts/dinstall/dinstall -n foo.changes</example>
- <sect1 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>pandora</tt> (non-us)
+ <sect1 id="upload-non-us">Uploading to <tt>non-us</tt> (pandora)
<p>
As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded
-to <tt>master</tt>. Instead, use non-anonymous FTP or
-<prgn>scp</prgn> to copy the package to
-<ftpsite>pandora.debian.org</ftpsite>, placing the files in
-<ftppath>&non-us-upload-dir</ftppath>. By default, you can use your
-same account which works on <tt>master</tt>.
+to <tt>ftp-master</tt>. Instead, use <prgn>scp</prgn> or non-anonymous
+FTP to copy the package to <ftpsite>non-us.debian.org</ftpsite>, placing
+the files in <ftppath>&non-us-upload-dir;</ftppath>. By default, you can
+use the same account/password that works on <tt>ftp-master</tt>.
<p>
The program <prgn>dupload</prgn> comes with support for uploading to
-<tt>pandora</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with
+<tt>non-us</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with
the program for details.
<p>
-Just as for an upload to master, you can check your upload with :
-<example>/org/non-us.debian.org/scripts/dinstall/dinstall -n foo.changes
+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>
<sect1>Uploads via <tt>chiark</tt>
<p>
-If you have a slow network connection to <tt>master</tt>, there are
+If you have a slow network connection to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, there are
alternatives. One is to upload files to <tt>Incoming</tt> via a
upload queue in Europe on <tt>chiark</tt>. For details connect to
<url id="&url-chiark-readme;">.
<p>
<em>Note:</em> Do not upload packages containing software that is
export-controlled by the United States government to the queue on
-<tt>chiark</tt>. Since this upload queue goes to <tt>master</tt>, the
-prescription found in <ref id="upload-master"> applies here as well.
+<tt>chiark</tt>. Since this upload queue goes to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, the
+prescription found in <ref id="upload-ftp-master"> applies here as well.
<p>
The program <prgn>dupload</prgn> comes with support for uploading to
<tt>chiark</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with the
via anonymous FTP to <url id="&url-upload-erlangen;">.
<p>
The upload must be a complete Debian upload, as you would put it into
-<tt>master</tt>'s <tt>Incoming</tt>, i.e., a <tt>.changes</tt> files
+<tt>ftp-master</tt>'s <tt>Incoming</tt>, i.e., a <tt>.changes</tt> files
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>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>master</tt>.
+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. Hopefully it should have been moved to <tt>master</tt>, but in
+upload, as on <tt>chiark</tt>. And, in any case, you should get a
+mail reply from the queue daemon explaining what happened to your
+upload. Hopefully it should have been moved to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, but in
case of errors you're notified, too.
<p>
<em>Note:</em> Do not upload packages containing software that is
export-controlled by the United States government to the queue on
-<tt>erlangen</tt>. Since this upload queue goes to <tt>master</tt>, the
-prescription found in <ref id="upload-master"> applies here as well.
+<tt>erlangen</tt>. Since this upload queue goes to <tt>ftp-master</tt>, the
+prescription found in <ref id="upload-ftp-master"> applies here as well.
<p>
The program <prgn>dupload</prgn> comes with support for uploading to
<tt>erlangen</tt>; please refer to the documentation that comes with
<sect1>Other Upload Queues
<p>
Another upload queue is available which is based in the US, and is a
-good backup when there are problems reaching <tt>master</tt>. You can
+good backup when there are problems reaching <tt>ftp-master</tt>. You can
upload files, just as in <tt>erlangen</tt>, to <url
id="&url-upload-samosa;">.
<p>
<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
+<tt>dinstall</tt> 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 <tt>dinstall</tt> 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">.
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 week 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
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.
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
<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;"
<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
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).
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