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
+Assurance, QA duties are not reserved solely for them. You can
+participate in this effort by keeping your packages as bug-free as
possible, and as lintian-clean (see ) as
-possible. If you think that it's quite impossible, then you should
-consider orphaning (see ) 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;).
+possible. If you do not find that possible, then you should consider
+orphaning some of your packages (see ). 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;).
@@ -714,7 +713,7 @@ To summarize, the Debian archive has a root directory within an FTP
server. For instance, at the mirror site,
A distribution is comprised of Debian source and binary packages, and the
respective Sources and Packages index files, containing
@@ -761,7 +760,7 @@ which is removed at that time.
This development cycle is based on the assumption that the
unstable distribution becomes stable after passing a
period of testing as frozen. Even once a distribution is
-considered stable, a few bugs inevitably remain--that's why the stable
+considered stable, a few bugs inevitably remain &mdash that's why the stable
distribution is updated every now and then. However, these updates are
tested very carefully and have to be introduced into the archive
individually to reduce the risk of introducing new bugs. You can find
@@ -785,50 +784,49 @@ shows up for a couple of months from time to time.
The experimental distribution is a specialty distribution.
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
+software could break your system, or software that's just too unstable
+even for the unstable distribution (but there is a reason to
+package it nevertheless). Users who download and install
packages from experimental are expected to have been duly
warned. In short, all bets are off for the experimental
distribution.
-Developers should be very selective in the use of the
-experimental distribution. Even if a package is highly
-unstable, it could still go into unstable; 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 experimental.
-
-For instance, an experimental encrypted file system should probably go
-into experimental. A new, beta, version of some software
-which uses completely different configuration might go into
-experimental at the maintainer's discretion. New software
-which isn't likely to damage your system can go into
-unstable. If you are working on an incompatible or complex
-upgrade situation, you can also use experimental as a staging
-area, so that testers can get early access.
-
-However, using experimental as a personal staging area is not
-always the best idea. You can't replace or upgrade the files in there
-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
-unstable. Using your personal web space on
-klecker.debian.org is generally a better idea, so that you put
-less strain on the Debian archive maintainers.
+If there is a chance that the software could do grave damage to a system,
+it is likely to be better to put it into experimental.
+For instance, an experimental compressed file system should probably go
+into experimental.
+
+Whenever there is a new upstream version of a package that introduces new
+features but breaks a lot of old ones, it should either not be uploaded, or
+be uploaded to experimental. A new, beta, version of some software
+which uses completely different configuration can go into
+experimental, at the maintainer's discretion. If you are working
+on an incompatible or complex upgrade situation, you can also use
+experimental as a staging area, so that testers can get early
+access.
+
+Some experimental software can still go into unstable, with a few
+warnings in the description, but that isn't recommended because packages
+from unstable are expected to propagate to testing and
+thus to stable.
+
+New software which isn't likely to damage your system can go directly into
+unstable.
+
+An alternative to experimental is to use your personal web space
+on people.debian.org (klecker.debian.org).
Every released Debian distribution has a code name: 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
+`hamm'; Debian 2.1, `slink'; Debian 2.2, `potato'; and Debian 3.0, `woody'. There is also
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.
@@ -957,14 +955,8 @@ 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
-&email-debian-release;) will decide if your package can be included in
-stable, therefore if your changelog entry is not clear enough, you may
-want to explain them why you uploaded your package to stable by sending
-them a short explication.
+See for more information on when and how to
+upload to stable.
The first time a version is uploaded which corresponds to a particular
upstream version, the original source tar file should be uploaded and
@@ -1028,6 +1020,43 @@ original bug fixed and the severity of the bug newly introduced by the
fix.
+
+Uploading 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.
+
+Extra care should be taken when uploading to stable. Basically, a
+package should only be uploaded to stable if one of the following happens:
+
+It is discouraged to change anything else in the package that isn't
+important, because even trivial fixes can cause bugs later on. Uploading
+new upstream versions to fix security problems is deprecated; applying the
+specific patch from the new upstream version to the old one ("backporting"
+the patch) is the right thing to do in most cases.
+
+Packages uploaded to stable need to be compiled on systems running
+stable, so that their dependencies are limited to the libraries
+(and other packages) available in stable; for example, a package
+uploaded to stable that depends on a library package that only
+exists in unstable will be rejected. Making changes to dependencies of other
+packages (by messing with Provides or shlibs files), possibly making
+those other packages uninstallable, is strongly discouraged.
+
+The Release Team (which can be reached at &email-debian-release;) will
+regularly evaluate the uploads in proposed-updates and decide if
+your package can be included in stable. Please be clear (and
+verbose, if necessary) in your changelog entries for uploads to
+stable, because otherwise the package won't be considered for
+inclusion.
+
+
@@ -1053,7 +1082,7 @@ to emit errors (they will start with E).
For more information on
@@ -1094,10 +1123,12 @@ file:
As discussed above, export controlled software should not be uploaded
-to ftp-master. Instead, use
The program
-On occasion, it is necessary to upload a package to both the
-stable and unstable distributions; this is done by
-putting both distributions in the Distribution: line. In
-such a case the upload announcement will go to both of the above
-mailing lists.
-
The
The Debian archive maintainers are responsible for handling package
uploads. For the most part, uploads are automatically handled on a
-daily basis by archive maintenance tools `dak'
-(also referred to as
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.
+package has added to the archive, which also indicates which bugs will
+be closed by the upload. Please examine this notification carefully,
+checking if any bugs you meant to close didn't get triggered.
+
+The installation notification also includes information on what
+section the package was inserted into. If there is a disparity, you
+will receive a separate email notifying you of that. Read on below.
@@ -1247,11 +1275,20 @@ have control over these fields. The values in the
The archive maintainers keep track of the canonical sections and
-priorities for packages in the override file. Sometimes the
-override file needs correcting. Simply changing the
-package's
+To alter the actual section that a package is put in, you need to
+first make sure that the
For more information about override files, see
This chapter contains information providing guidelines for when and
how NMUs should be done. A fundamental distinction is made between
-source and binary NMUs, which is explained in the next section.
+source and binary-only NMUs, which is explained in the next section.
-There are two new terms used throughout this section: ``binary NMU''
+There are two new terms used throughout this section: ``binary-only NMU''
and ``source NMU''. These terms are used with specific technical
-meaning throughout this document. Both binary and source NMUs are
+meaning throughout this document. Both binary-only and source NMUs are
similar, since they involve an upload of a package by a developer who
is not the official maintainer of that package. That is why it's a
non-maintainer upload.
@@ -1289,24 +1326,27 @@ is not the official maintainer of that package. That is why it's a
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
-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 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
-be considered a source NMU rather than a binary NMU. As you can see,
-we don't distinguish in terminology between porter NMUs and non-porter
-NMUs.
-
-Both classes of NMUs, source and binary, can be lumped by the term
-``NMU''. However, this often leads to confusion, since most people
-think ``source NMU'' when they think ``NMU''. So it's best to be
-careful. In this chapter, if I use the unqualified term ``NMU'', I
-mean both source and binary NMUs.
+a change to
+A binary-only NMU is a recompilation and upload of a binary package
+for a given architecture. As such, it is usually part of a porting
+effort. A binary-only NMU is a non-maintainer uploaded binary version
+of a package, 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 be considered a
+source NMU rather than a binary-only NMU. As you can see, we don't
+distinguish in terminology between porter NMUs and non-porter NMUs.
+
+Both classes of NMUs, source and binary-only, can be lumped by the
+term ``NMU''. However, this often leads to confusion, since most
+people think ``source NMU'' when they think ``NMU''. So it's best to
+be careful. In this chapter, if we use the unqualified term ``NMU'',
+we refer to any type of non-maintainer upload NMUs, whether source and
+binary, or binary-only.
-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
-as possible. In this case, the Debian Security Managers should get in
+When a security bug is detected, a fixed package should be uploaded
+as soon as possible. In this case, the Debian security officers 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
maintainer cannot provide a fixed package fast enough or if he/she
-cannot be reached in time, the Security Manager may upload a fixed
+cannot be reached in time, a security officer may upload a fixed
package (i.e., do a source NMU).
+
+