.
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B dgit
-[\fIdgit\-options\fP] \fBclone\fP [\fIdgit\-options\fP]
-\fIpackage\fP [\fIsuite\fP] [\fB./\fP\fIdest-dir|\fB/\fP\fIdest-dir]
+[\fIdgit\-opts\fP] \fBclone\fP [\fIdgit\-opts\fP]
+\fIpackage\fP [\fIsuite\fP] [\fB./\fP\fIdir|\fB/\fP\fIdir]
.br
.B dgit
-[\fIdgit\-options\fP] \fBfetch\fP|\fBpull\fP [\fIdgit\-options\fP]
+[\fIdgit\-opts\fP] \fBfetch\fP|\fBpull\fP [\fIdgit\-opts\fP]
[\fIsuite\fP]
.br
.B dgit
-[\fIdgit\-options\fP] \fBbuild\fP
-[\fIgit\-buildpackage\-options\fP|\fIdpkg\-buildpackage\-options\fp]
+[\fIdgit\-opts\fP] \fBbuild\fP
+[\fIgit\-buildpackage\-opts\fP|\fIdpkg\-buildpackage\-opts\fp]
.br
.B dgit
-[\fIdgit\-options\fP] \fBpush\fP [\fIdgit\-options\fP]
+[\fIdgit\-opts\fP] \fBpush\fP [\fIdgit\-opts\fP]
[\fIsuite\fP]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.B dgit
treats the Debian archive as a version control system, and
bidirectionally gateways between the archive and git. The git view of
the package can contain the usual upstream git history, and will be
-augmented by commits representing uploads done without using dgit.
-This git history is stored in a canonical location
+augmented by commits representing uploads done by other developers not
+using dgit. This git history is stored in a canonical location known
+as
.B dgit-repos
-which lives outside the Debian archive.
+which lives outside the Debian archive (currently, on Alioth).
.B dgit clone
and
does an `upload', pushing the current HEAD to the archive (as a source
package) and to dgit-repos (as git commits). This also involves
making a signed git tag, and signing the files to be uploaded to the
-archive.
-.SH MODEL AND WORKFLOW
+archive. dgit push does a
+.BR "debian/rules clean" .
+.SH WORKFLOW - SIMPLE
+It is always possible with dgit to clone or fetch a package, make
+changes in git (using git-commit) on the suite branch
+.RB ( "git checkout dgit/" \fIsuite\fR)
+and then dgit push. You can use whatever gitish techniques you like
+to construct the commit to push; the only requirement is that it is a
+descendant of the state of the archive, as provided by dgit in the
+remote tracking branch
+.BR remotes/dgit/ \fIsuite\fR.
+
+If you are lucky the other uploaders have also used dgit and
+integrated the other relevant git history; if not you can fetch it
+into your tree and cherry-pick etc. as you wish.
+.SH WORKFLOW - INTEGRATING BETWEEN DGIT AND OTHER GIT HISTORY
+If you are the maintainer of a package dealing with uploads made
+without dgit, you will probably want to merge the synthetic commits
+(made by dgit to represent the uploads) into your git history.
+Normally you can just merge the dgit branch into your own master, or
+indeed if you do your work on the dgit local suite branch
+.BI dgit/ suite
+you can just use dgit pull.
+
+However the first time dgit is used it will generate a new origin
+commit from the archive which won't be linked into the rest of your
+git history. You will need to merge this.
+
+If last upload was in fact made with git, you should usually proceed
+as follows: identify the commit which was actually used to build the
+package. (Hopefully you have a tag for this.) Check out the dgit
+branch
+.RB ( "git checkout dgit/" \fIsuite\fR)
+and merge that other commit
+.RB ( "git merge debian/" \fIversion\fR).
+Hopefully this merge will be trivial because the two trees should
+be the same. The resulting branch head can be merged into your
+working branches
+.RB ( "git checkout master && git merge dgit/" \fIsuite\fR).
+
+If last upload was not made with git, a different approach is required
+to start using dgit. First, do
+.B dgit fetch
+(or clone) obtain a git history representation of what's in the
+archive and record it in the
+.BI remotes/dgit/ suite
+tracking branch. Then construct somehow, using your other git history
+plus appropriate diffs and cherry picks from the dgit remote tracking
+branch, a git commit whose tree corresponds to the tree to use for the
+next upload. If that commit-to-be-uploaded is not a descendant of the
+dig remote tracking branch, check it out and say
+.BR "git merge -s ours remotes/dgit/" \fIsuite\fR;
+that tells git that we are deliberately throwing away any differences
+between what's in the archive and what you intend to upload.
+Then run
+.BR "dgit push"
+to actually upload the result.
+.SH MODEL
You may use any suitable git workflow with dgit, provided you
satisfy dgit's requirements:
-dgit maintains what looks a bit like a remote called
+dgit maintains a pseudo-remote called
.BR dgit ,
with one branch per suite. This remote cannot be used with
plain git.
The
.B dgit-repos
repository for each package contains one ref per suite named
-\fBdrefs/git/\fR\fIsuite\fR. These should be pushed to only by
+\fBrefs/dgit/\fR\fIsuite\fR. These should be pushed to only by
dgit. They are fast forwarding. Each push on this branch
corresponds to an upload (or attempted upload).
current dgit/suite tip in dgit-repos.
Uploads made by dgit contain an additional field
-.B Vcs-Git-Master
+.B Vcs-Dgit-Master
in the source package .dsc. (This is added by dgit push.)
This specifies a commit (an ancestor of the dgit/suite
branch) whose tree is identical to the unpacked source upload.
Uploads not made by dgit are represented in git by commits which are
synthesised by dgit. The tree of each such commit corresponds to the
-unpacked source; the single parent is the last known upload - that is,
-the contents of the dgit/suite branch.
+unpacked source; there is an origin commit with the contents, and a
+psuedo-merge from last known upload - that is, from the contents of
+the dgit/suite branch.
dgit expects repos that it works with to have a
.B dgit
remote. This refers to the well-known dgit-repos location
(currently, the dgit-repos project on Alioth). dgit fetch updates
the remote tracking branch for dgit/suite.
+
+dgit does not (currently) represent the orig tarball(s) in git; nor
+does it represent the patch statck of a `3.0 (quilt)' package. The
+orig tarballs are downloaded and kept in the parent directory, as with
+a traditional (non-gitish) dpkg-source workflow.
+
+To a user looking at the archive, changes pushed using dgit look like
+changes made in an NMU: in a `3.0 (quilt)' package the delta from the
+previous upload is recorded in a new patch constructed by dpkg-source.
+.SH PACKAGE SOURCE FORMATS
+If you are not the maintainer, you do not need to worry about the
+source format of the package. You can just make changes as you like
+in git. If the package is a `3.0 (quilt)' package, the patch stack
+will usually not be represented in the git history.
+
+If you are the maintainer of a non-native package, you currently have
+two sensible options:
+
+Firstly, you can regard your git history as primary, and the archive
+as an export format. For example, you could maintain topic branches
+in git and a fast-forwarding release branch; or you could do your work
+directly in a merging way on the
+.BI dgit/ suite
+branches. If you do this you should probably use a `1.0' format
+source package. In the archive, the delta between upstream will be
+represented in the single Debian patch.
+
+Secondly, you can regard your quiltish patch stack in the archive as
+primary. You will have to use other tools besides dgit to import and
+export this patch stack. See also the BUGS section.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.BR --dry-run | -n
.BI -p package
Specifies that we should process source package
.I package
-rather than looking in debian/control. Valid with dgit fetch
-and dgit pull, only.
+rather than looking in debian/control or debian/changelog.
+Valid with dgit fetch and dgit pull, only.
+.TP
+.BR -N | --new
+The package may be new in this suite. Without this, dgit will
+refuse to push.
.TP
.BI -D
-Spew debugging information to stderr.
+Prints debugging information to stderr. Repeating the option produces
+more output (currently, up to -DD is meaningfully different).
.TP
.BI -c name = value
Specifies a git configuration option. dgit itself is also controlled
.BI -C changesfile
Specifies the .changes file which is to be uploaded. By default
dgit push looks for single .changes file in the parent directory whose
-filename suggests they it is for the right package and version.
+filename suggests it is for the right package and version.
+.TP
+.BI --existing-package= package
+dgit push needs to canonicalise the suite name. But currently
+there is no way to ask the archive to do this without knowing the
+name of an existing package. Without --new we can just use the
+package we are trying to push. But with --new that will not work, so
+we guess that
+.TP
+.BI --clean-command= "cmd arg arg"
+dgit push needs to clean the tree to make sure the
.SH CONFIGURATION
dgit looks at the following git config keys to control its behaviour.
You may set them with git-config (either in system-global or per-tree
.TP
.BI dgit-distro. distro .git-create
.TP
+.BI dgit-distro. distro .upload-host
+.TP
+.BI dgit-distro. distro .mirror
+.TP
+.BI dgit-distro. distro .archive-query
+.TP
+.BI dgit-distro. distro .archive-query-default-component
+.TP
.BI dgit-distro. distro .ssh
.TP
.BR dgit.default. *
for each
.BR dgit-distro. \fIdistro\fR . *
.SH BUGS
-dgit will only work with packages in main. The madison http query API
-does not give the component.
-
-dgit assumes knowledge of the archive layout. There appears to be no
-sane way to find the path in the archive pool of the .dsc for a
-particular suite.
+We should be using some kind of vhost/vpath setup for the git repos on
+alioth, so that they can be moved later if and when this turns out to
+be a good idea.
-Debian Policy needs to be updated to describe the new Vcs-Git-Master
+Debian Policy needs to be updated to describe the new Vcs-Dgit-Master
field (and to specify that it is an RC bug for that field to refer
to an unavailable commit).
+The method of canonicalising suite names is bizarre. See the
+.B --existing-package
+option for one of the implication.s
+
dgit push should perhaps do `git push origin', or something similar,
by default.
currently any mechanism for determining and honouring the archive's
ideas about access control. Currently only DDs can push.
-dgit's representation of format `3.0 (quilt)' source packages (even if
-they were supported) would not represent the patch stack. Currently
-the patch series representation cannot round trip through the archive.
-Ideally dgit would represent a quilty package with an origin commit of
-some kind followed by the patch stack as a series of commits followed
-by a pseudo-merge (to make the branch fast-forwarding). This would
-also mean a new `dgit rebase-prep' command or some such to turn such a
-fast-forwarding branch back into a rebasing patch stack, and a `force'
-option to dgit push (perhaps enabled automatically) which will make
-the required pseudo-merge.
+dgit's representation of format `3.0 (quilt)' source packages does not
+represent the patch stack. Currently the patch series representation
+cannot round trip through the archive. Ideally dgit would represent a
+quilty package with an origin commit of some kind followed by the
+patch stack as a series of commits followed by a pseudo-merge (to make
+the branch fast-forwarding). This would also mean a new `dgit
+rebase-prep' command or some such to turn such a fast-forwarding
+branch back into a rebasing patch stack, and a `force' option to dgit
+push (perhaps enabled automatically by a note left by rebase-prep)
+which will make the required pseudo-merge.
+
+If the dgit push fails halfway through, it should be restartable and
+idempotent. However this is not true for the git tag operation.
+Also, it would be good to check that the proposed signing key is
+available before starting work.
dgit's handling of .orig.tar.gz is not very sophisticated. Ideally
the .orig.tar.gz could be transported via the git repo as git tags.
+Doing this is made more complicated by the possibility of a `3.0
+(quilt)' package with multiple .orig tarballs.
The error messages are often unhelpfully terse and tend to refer to
line numbers in dgit.
The option parser requires values to be cuddled to the option name.
+dgit assumes knowledge of the archive layout. There appears to be no
+sane way to find the path in the archive pool of the .dsc for a
+particular suite. I'm assured that the archive layout is a
+`well known algorithm' by now.
+
--dry-run often does not work with fetch, even though this is a
logically plausible request. (It fails, instead.)
~ianmdlvl / dgit.git / blobdiff