X-Git-Url: https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/ucgi/~ianmdlvl/git?a=blobdiff_plain;f=developers-reference.sgml;h=646f4f56e5eaf8aaf4bfca8549fc48865ff6865c;hb=a16836c6b9888f2c8422bcf5e9dac223c227b89d;hp=380a9897c5130444ca23040bac8a196f18b09a1b;hpb=921736ab9f42d1294884f7741fb7ad5668caf0ad;p=developers-reference.git diff --git a/developers-reference.sgml b/developers-reference.sgml index 380a989..646f4f5 100644 --- a/developers-reference.sgml +++ b/developers-reference.sgml @@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ %commondata; - + @@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ -copyright ©1998, 1999 Adam Di Carlo +copyright ©1998 &ndash 2001 Adam Di Carlo copyright ©1997, 1998 Christian Schwarz

@@ -76,16 +76,15 @@ discussion of resources which can help maintainers with the quality of their packages ().

It should be clear that this reference does not discuss the technical -details of the Debian package nor how to generate Debian packages; -that information is discussed in the . Nor does this reference detail the -standards to which Debian software must comply; that information can -be found in the . +details of the Debian package nor how to generate Debian packages. +Nor does this reference detail the standards to which Debian software +must comply. All of such information can be found in the .

Furthermore, this document is not an expression of formal -policy. It contains documentation for the Debian system, and -generally agreed-upon best practices. +policy. It contains documentation for the Debian system and +generally agreed-upon best practices. Thus, it is what is called a +``normative'' document. Applying to Become a Maintainer @@ -270,7 +269,7 @@ post to that list and an experienced developer will volunteer to help. There's a LDAP database containing many informations concerning all developers, you can access it at . 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 +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 @@ -303,16 +302,17 @@ 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 ) your package if a +big problem (release critical bugs, security update, ...) occurs while +you're on vacation.

In order to inform the other developers, there's two things that you should do. First send a mail to &email-debian-private; giving the period of time when you will be on vacation. You can also give some special instructions on what to do if any problem occurs. 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. Coordination With Upstream Developers

@@ -336,9 +336,9 @@ need, always try not to fork from the upstream sources. Managing Release Critical Bugs

-Release Critical Bugs (RCB) are the bugs of severity -« critical », « grave » and -« important ». Those bugs can delay the Debian release +Release Critical Bugs (RCB) are all bugs that have severity +critical, grave or serious. +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 ) 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). Quality Assurance Effort

@@ -406,12 +406,7 @@ request to be copied. Anyone who posts to a mailing list should read it to see the responses.

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;, &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 @@ -419,7 +414,7 @@ other mailing lists are available for a variety of special topics; see for a list. Cross-posting (sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.

-&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 @@ -569,35 +564,45 @@ The Debian GNU/Linux distribution consists of a lot of Debian packages (.deb's, currently around &number-of-pkgs;) and a few additional files (documentation, installation disk images, etc.).

-Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian distribution: +Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian archive:

&sample-dist-dirtree;

-As you can see, the top-level directory of the distribution contains -three directories, namely main, contrib, and -non-free. These directories are called sections. -

-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, +dists/ and pool/. 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, stable, testing and unstable. +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 Packages and Sources files in the +distribution subdirectories can reference files in the pool/ +directory. +

+dists/stable contains three directories, namely main, +contrib, and non-free. +

+In each of the areas, there is a directory with the source packages +(source), a directory for each supported architecture (binary-i386, binary-m68k, etc.), and a directory for architecture independent packages (binary-all).

-The main section contains additional directories which holds +The main 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 (disks-i386, disks-m68k, etc.).

-The binary and source directories are divided +The binary-* and source directories are divided further into subsections. Sections

-The main section is what makes up the official Debian -GNU/Linux distribution. The main 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 main section of the Debian archive is what makes up the +official Debian GNU/Linux distribution. +The main 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 GNU/Linux.

Every package in the main section must fully comply with the (DFSG) and @@ -606,16 +611,16 @@ id="&url-debian-policy;" name="Debian Policy Manual">. The DFSG is our definition of ``free software.'' Check out the Debian Policy Manual for details.

+Packages in the contrib section have to comply with the DFSG, +but may fail other requirements. For instance, they may depend on +non-free packages. +

Packages which do not apply to the DFSG are placed in the non-free 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.

-Packages in the contrib section have to comply with the DFSG, -but may fail other requirements. For instance, they may depend on -non-free packages. -

The contains a more exact definition of the three sections. The above discussion is just an introduction. @@ -654,7 +659,7 @@ Debian GNU/Linux 1.3 is only available as i386. Debian 2.0 shipped for i386 and m68k architectures. Debian 2.1 ships for the i386, m68k, alpha, and sparc architectures. Debian 2.2 adds support for the -powerpc architecture. +powerpc and arm architectures.

Information for developers or uses about the specific ports are available at the Package uploads @@ -906,9 +927,9 @@ The changes file is a control file with the following fields: &control-file-fields;

All of these fields are mandatory for a Debian upload. See the list -of control fields in the for the contents of these fields. You can close -bugs automatically using the Description field, see for the contents of these fields. You can close bugs +automatically using the Description field, see . Only the Distribution field is discussed in this section, since it relates to the archive maintenance policies. @@ -920,16 +941,17 @@ Notably, the Distribution field, which originates from the debian/changelog 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 -stable and unstable distributions, then you might -put `stable unstable' in the changelog's -Distribution 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 frozen, you would set the distribution to `frozen unstable'. (See for more information on when to upload to frozen.) Note that it never makes sense to combine the experimental distribution with -anything else. Also note that setting the distribution to `stable' means +anything else. +

+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 proposed-updates directory of the Debian archive for further testing before it is actually included in stable. The Release Team (which can be reached at @@ -976,15 +998,15 @@ some guidelines: Fixes for bugs of severity critical, grave, or -important severity are always allowed for those packages that +serious severity are always allowed for those packages that must exist in the final release -critical, grave, and important bug fixes -are only allowed for non-necessary packages if they don't add any new +critical, grave, and serious bug fixes are +allowed for non-necessary packages but only if they don't add any new features -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 wishlist fixes are not allowed (they are, after all, not really bugs) @@ -1063,7 +1085,7 @@ After uploading your package, you can check how the archive maintenance software will process it by running dinstall on your changes file: dinstall -n foo.changes - Uploading to non-us (pandora) + Uploading to non-US (pandora)

As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded to ftp-master. Instead, use scp or non-anonymous @@ -1078,7 +1100,29 @@ the program for details. You can check your upload the same way it's done on ftp-master, with: dinstall -n foo.changes - +

+Note that U.S. residents or citizens are subject to restrictions on +export of cryptographic software. As of this writing, U.S. citizens are +allowed to export some cryptographic software, subject to notification +rules by the U.S. Department of Commerce. +

+Debian policy does not prevent upload to non-US by U.S. residents or +citizens, but care should be taken in doing so. It is recommended that +developers take all necessary steps to ensure that they are not +breaking current US law by doing an upload to non-US, including +consulting a lawyer. +

+For packages in non-US main or contrib, developers should at least +follow the . Maintainers of non-US/non-free packages should +further consult these of non-free software. +

+This section is for information only and does not constitute legal +advice. Again, it is strongly recommended that U.S. citizens and +residents consult a lawyer before doing uploads to non-US. + + Uploads via chiark

If you have a slow network connection to ftp-master, there are @@ -1287,7 +1331,7 @@ cannot be reached in time, the Security Manager may upload a fixed package (i.e., do a source NMU).

During the release freeze (see ), 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 @@ -1498,7 +1542,7 @@ of things you should check or be aware of. 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 . Setting your architecture to ``i386'' is usually incorrect. Make sure your source package is correct. Do dpkg-source -x @@ -1545,7 +1589,7 @@ In a binary NMU, no real changes are being made to the source. You do not need to touch any of the files in the source package. This includes debian/changelog.

-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 @@ -1586,7 +1630,7 @@ the porting effort, at the discretion of the porter group. (Remember, none of this is Policy, just mutually agreed upon guidelines.)

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 @@ -1687,8 +1731,8 @@ belongs in.

If you need to change the section for one of your packages, change the package control information to place the package in the desired -section, and re-upload the package (see the for details). Carefully examine the +section, and re-upload the package (see the for details). Carefully examine the installation log sent to you when the package is installed into the archive. If for some reason the old location of the package remains, file a bug against ftp.debian.org asking that the old @@ -1729,8 +1773,8 @@ announce list (either &email-debian-changes; or Sometimes you made a mistake naming the package and you need to rename it. In this case, you need to follow a two-step process. First, set your debian/control file to replace and conflict with the -obsolete name of the package (see the for details). Once you've uploaded +obsolete name of the package (see the for details). Once you've uploaded that package, and the package has moved into the archive, file a bug against ftp.debian.org asking to remove the package with the obsolete name. @@ -1942,6 +1986,21 @@ of Debian policy as well as some checks for common errors. The use of id="upload-checking"> and . + + debconf +

+debconf provides a consistent interface to +configuring packages interactively. It is user interface +intedependant, allowing end-users to configure packages with a +text-only interface, an HTML interface, or a dialog interface. New +interfaces can be added modularly. +

+Many feel that this system should be used for all packages requiring +interactive configuration. debconf is not +currently required by Debian Policy, however, that may change in the +future. + + debhelper