correct new maintainer instructions pretty heavily (see changelog)

[developers-reference.git] / developers-reference.sgml

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  <book>

      <title>Debian Developer's Reference
      <author>Adam P. Harris, current maintainer <email/aph@debian.org/
      <author>Christian Schwarz <email/schwarz@debian.org/
      <author>Ian Jackson <email/ijackson@gnu.ai.mit.edu/
      <version>ver. &version;, &date;

      <copyright>
        <copyrightsummary><p>
Copyright &copy;1998 Adam P. Harris.  Copyright &copy;1997,1998
Christian Schwarz.
        <p>
This manual is free software; you may redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any
later version.
        <p>
This is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
<em>without any warranty</em>; without even the implied warranty of
merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.
        <p>
A copy of the GNU General Public License is available as
<tt>/usr/doc/copyright/GPL</tt> in the Debian GNU/Linux distribution
or on the World Wide Web at <url
id="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html" name="the GNU website">.
You can also obtain it by writing to the Free Software Foundation,
Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

    <toc sect>

    <chapt id="scope">Scope of This Document
      <p>
The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the
processes and resources used by Debian developers.
      <p>
The processes discussed within include how to become a maintainer
(<ref id="new-maintainer">); how to upload new packages (<ref
id="upload">); how and when to do interim releases of other
maintainer's packages (<ref id="nmu">); how to move, remove, or orphan
packages (<ref id="archive-manip">); and how to handle bug reports
(<ref id="bug-handling">).
      <p>
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
discussion of resources which an help maintainers with the quality of
their packages (<ref id="tools">).
      <p>
It should be clear that this reference does not discuss the details of
the Debian package or how to generate Debian packages; that is
discussed in the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/packaging.html/"
name="Debian Packaging Manual">.  Neither does this reference detail
the standards to which Debian software must comply; that information
can be found in the <url id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/"
name="Debian Policy Manual">.


    <chapt id="new-maintainer">Applying to Become a Maintainer
        
      <sect>Getting started
        <p>
So, you've read all the documentation, you understand what everything
in the <package/hello/ example package is for, and you're about to
Debianize your favourite piece of software.  How do you actually
become a Debian developer so that your work can be incorporated into
the Project?
        <p>
Firstly, subscribe to <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ if you
haven't already.  Send the word <tt/subscribe/ in the <em/Subject/ of
an email to <email/debian-devel-REQUEST@lists.debian.org/.  In case of
problems, contact the list administrator at
<email/listmaster@lists.debian.org/.  More information on available
mailing lists can be found in <ref id="mailing-lists">.
        <p>
You should subscribe and lurk for a bit before doing any coding, and
you should post about your intentions to work on something to avoid
duplicated effort.
        <p>
Another good list to subscribe to is
<email/debian-mentors@lists.debian.org/.  See <ref id="mentors"> for
details.  The IRC channel <tt/#debian/ on the Linux People IRC network 
(i.e., <tt/irc.debian.org/) can also be helpful.


      <sect>Registering as a Debian developer
        <p>
Before you decide to register with the Debian Project, you will need
to read the <url id="http://www.debian.org/social_contract"
name="Debian Social Contract">.  Registering as a developer means that
you agree with and pledge to uphold the Debian Social Contract; it is
very important that maintainers are in accord with the essential ideas
behind Debian GNU/Linux.  Reading the <url
id="http://www.gnu.org/gnu/manifesto.html" name="GNU Manifesto"> would
also be a good idea.
        <p>
The process of registering as a developer is a process of verifying
your identity and intentions.  As the number of people working on
Debian GNU/Linux has grown to over 400 people and our systems are used
in several very important places we have to be careful about being
compromised.  Therefore, we need to verify new 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@debian.org/ as part of the registration
application:
<list>
            <item>
Your name.
            <item>
Your preferred login name on <tt/master/ (seven characters or
less<footnote>It is not clear to the author why logins on
<tt>master</tt> cannot be eight characters or greater.  If anyone can
clarify why, I would appreciate it.</footnote>), as well as the email
address at which you'd prefer to be subscribed to
<email/debian-private@lists.debian.org/ (typically this will be either
your primary mail address or your new <tt>debian.org</tt> address).
            <item>
A phone number where we can call you.  Remember that the new
maintainer team usually calls during evening hours to save on long
distance tolls.  Please do not give a work number, unless you are
generally there in the evening.
            <item>
A statement of intention, that is, what package(s) you intend to work
on, which Debian port you will be assisting, or how you intend to
contribute to Debian.
            <item>
A statement that you have read and agree to uphold the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/social_contract" name="Debian Social
Contract">.
            <item>
Some mechanism by which we can verify your real-life identity. For
example, any of the following mechanisms would suffice:
<list>
                  <item>
A PGP key signed by any well-known signature, such as:
<list>
                  <item>
Any current Debian developer you have met <em/in real life/.
                  <item>
Any formal certification service (such as Verisign, etc.) that
verifies your identity.  A certification that verifies your email
address, and not you identity, is not sufficient.
                      </list>
                  <item>
Alternatively, you may identify yourself with a scanned (or physically
mailed) copy of any formal documents certifying your identity (such as
a birth certificate, national ID card, U.S. Driver's License, etc.).
If emailed, please sign the mail with your PGP key.
                </list>
          </list>
        <p>
If you do not have a PGP key yet, generate one. Every developer needs
a PGP key in order to sign and verify package uploads. You should read
the PGP manual, since it has 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.
        <p>
Our standard is to use <prgn>pgp</prgn> version 2.x.  You can use
<prgn/pgp/ version 5, if and only if you make an RSA key.  Note that
we are also working with the <prgn/gpg/ team so that we can have a
free alternative to PGP; however, this may take a little bit of time.
        <p>
Your PGP key must be at least 1024 bits long.  There is no reason to
use a smaller key, and doing so would be much less secure.  Your key
must be signed with at least your own user ID.  This prevents user ID
tampering.  You can do it by executing <tt>pgp -ks
<var/your_userid/</tt>.
        <p>
If your PGP key isn't on public PGP key servers such as
<tt>pgp.net</tt>, please read the documentation available locally
<tt>/usr/doc/pgp/keyserv.doc</tt>.  That document contains
instructions on how to put your key on the public key servers.
        <p>
Due to export restrictions by the United States government some Debian
packages, including PGP, have been moved to an ftp site outside of the
United States. You can find the current locations of those packages on
<ftpsite/ftp.debian.org/ or <ftpsite/ftp.us.debian.org/ in the
<ftppath>/pub/debian/README.non-US</ftppath> file.
        <p>
Some countries restrict the use of cryptographic software by their
citizens.  This need not impede one's activities as a Debian package
maintainer however, as it may be perfectly legal to use cryptographic
products for authentication, rather than encryption purposes (as is
the case in France).  The Debian Project does not require the use of
cryptography <em/qua/ cryptography in any manner.  If you live in a
country where use of cryptography even for authentication is forbidden
then please contact us so we can make special arrangements.
        <p>
Once you have all your information ready, and your public key is
available on public key servers, send a message to
<email/new-maintainer@debian.org/ 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 PGP or RSA public key (extracted using <tt>pgp
-kxa</tt> in the case of PGP) for the database of keys which is
distributed from <ftpsite/ftp.debian.org/ in
<ftppath>/pub/debian/doc/debian-keyring.tar.gz</ftppath>, or the
<package/debian-keyring/ package.  Please be sure to sign your
request message with your chosen PGP or RSA key.
        <p>
Once this information is received and processed, you should be
contacted with information about your new Debian maintainer account.
If you don't hear anything within 7-14 days, please send a followup
message asking if your original application was received.  Do not
re-send your original application, that will just confuse the
new-maintainer team. Please be patient, especially near release
points; mistakes do occasionally happen, and people do sometimes run
out of volunteer time.


      <sect id="mentors">Debian Mentors
        <p>
A mailing list called <email/debian-mentors@lists.debian.org/ which
has been set up for novice maintainers who seek help with initial
packaging and other developer-related issues.  Every new developer is
invited to subscribe to that list (see <ref id="mailing-lists"> for
details).
        <p>
Those who prefer one-on-one help (e.g., via private email) should
also post to that list and an experienced developer will volunteer to
help.


    <chapt id="servers">Mailing Lists and Servers

      <sect id="mailing-lists">Mailing lists
        <p>
The mailing list server is at <tt/lists.debian.org/.  Mail
<tt/debian-<var/foo/-REQUEST@lists.debian.org/, where
<tt/debian-<var/foo// is the name of the list, with the word
<tt/subscribe/ in the <em/Subject/ to subscribe or <tt/unsubscribe/ to
unsubscribe.  More detailed instructions on how to subscribe and
unsubscribe to the mailing lists can be found at <url
id="http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe">, <url
id="ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/doc/mailing-lists.txt"> or locally in
<tt>/usr/doc/debian/mailing-lists.txt</tt> if you have the
<package>doc-debian</package> package installed.
        <p>
When replying to messages on the mailing list, please do not send
a carbon copy (<tt/CC/--this does not mean `courtesy copy') to
the original poster unless they explicitly request that this be
done.  Anyone who posts to a mailing list should read it to see the
responses.
        <p>
In addition, all messages should usually only be sent to one of the
following mailing lists: <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/,
<email/debian-policy@lists.debian.org/,
<email/debian-user@lists.debian.org/,
<email/debian-announce@lists.debian.org/, or
<email/debian-devel-announce@lists.debian.org/.  Additional mailing
lists are available for special purposes; see <url
id="http://www.debian.org/MailingLists/subscribe">.  Cross-posting
(sending the same message to multiple lists) is discouraged.
        <p>
<email/debian-private@lists.debian.org/ is a special mailing lists 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 <email/debian-private@lists.debian.org/ unless it is really
necessary.  Moreover, do <em/not/ forward email from that list to
anyone.
        <p>
As ever on the net, please trim down the quoting of articles you're
replying to.  In general, please adhere to the usual conventions for
posting messages.
        <p>
Online archives of mailing lists are available at <url
id="http://www.debian.org/Lists-Archives/">.


      <sect id="servers-master">The master server
        <p>
The master server, <tt/master.debian.org/, 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/ 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.  Please
describe your plans on <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ before
implementing anything, however, to reduce unnecessary duplication of
effort or wasted processing time.
        <p>
All Debian developers have accounts on <tt/master.debian.org/.  Please
take care to protect your password to this machine.  Try to avoid
login or upload methods which send passwords over the Internet in the
clear.
        <p>
If you find a problem with <tt/master.debian.org/ such as disk full,
suspicious activity, or whatever, send an email to
<email>debian-admin@debian.org</email>.

      <sect id="servers-ftp">The FTP servers
        <p>

      <sect id="servers-www">The WWW servers
        <p>
The main web server, <tt/www.debian.org/, is also known as
<tt/va.debian.org/.  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
<tt>public_html</tt> directory under your home directory.  You can do
this on either <tt/va.debian.org/ or <tt/master.debian.org/.  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.
Please do <em>not</em> put any materials on Debian servers which do
not relate to Debian.
        <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="http://www.debian.org/Bugs/db/pa/lwww.debian.org.html" name="Bug
Tracking System">.

      <sect id="servers-cvs">The CVS server
        <p>
<tt/cvs.debian.org/ is also known as <tt/va.debian.org/, discussed
above.  If you need the use of 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.  Generally,
<tt/cvs.debian.org/ offers a combination of local CVS access,
anonymous client-server read-only access, and full client-server
access through <prgn>ssh</prgn>.
        <p>
To request a CVS area, send a request via email to
<email>debian-admin@debian.org</email>.


      <sect id="servers-mirrors">Mirrors of Debian servers
        <p>
The web and FTP servers have several mirrors available.  Please do not
put heavy load on the canonical FTP or web servers.  Ideally, the
canonical servers only mirror out to a first tier of mirrors, and all
user access is to the mirrors.  This allows Debian to better spread
our bandwidth requirements over several servers and networks.  Note
that newer push mirroring techniques ensure that mirrors are as
up-to-date as they can be.
        <p>
The main web page listing the available public FTP (and, usually,
HTTP) servers can be found at <url
id="http://www.debian.org/distrib/ftplist">. More information
concerning mirrors can be found at <url
id="http://www.debian.org/devel/mirror/">.  This useful page includes
information and tools which can be helpful if you are interested in
setting up your own mirror, either for internal or public access.
        <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.


    <chapt id="archive">The Debian Archive

      <sect>Overview
        <p>
The Debian GNU/Linux distribution consists of a lot of Debian packages
(<tt/.deb/'s, currently more than 1500) and a few additional files
(documentation, installation disk images, etc.).
        <p>
Here is an example directory tree of a complete Debian distribution:
<example>
main/
main/binary-all/
main/binary-all/admin/
main/binary-all/base/
main/binary-all/comm/
main/binary-all/devel/
     ...
main/binary-i386/
main/binary-i386/admin/
main/binary-i386/base/
     ...
main/binary-m68k
main/binary-m68k/admin/
main/binary-m68k/base/
     ...
main/source/
main/source/admin/
main/source/base/
     ...
main/disks-i386/
main/disks-m68k/
     ...

contrib/
contrib/binary-all/
contrib/binary-i386/
contrib/binary-m68k/
     ...
contrib/source/

non-free/
non-free/binary-all/
non-free/binary-i386/
non-free/binary-m68k/
         ...
non-free/source/
</example>
        <p>
As you can see, the top-level directory of the distribution contains
three directories, namely <em>main</>, <em>contrib</>, and
p<em>non-free</>. These directories are called <em>sections</>.
        <p>
In each section, 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).
        <p>
The <em/main/ section 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.).
        <p>
The <em/binary/ and <em/source/ directories are divided further into
<em/subsections/.


      <sect>Sections
        <p>
The <em>main</em> section is what makes up the <em>official Debian
GNU/Linux distribution</>. This is because the packages in the other
two sections do not fully comply with all our guidelines.  As such,
they are not officially part of Debian.
        <p>
For example, every package in the main section must fully comply
with the <url id="http://www.debian.org/social_contract#guidelines"
name="Debian Free Software Guidelines"> (DFSG) and with all other
policy requirements as described in the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/" name="Debian Policy
Manual">. (The DFSG is 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
<em/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.
        <p>
Packages in the <em/contrib/ section have to apply to the DFSG, but
fail other requirements.  For instance, they might depend on non-free
packages.
        <p>
The <url id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/" name="Debian
Policy Manual"> contains a more exact definition of the three
sections. The above discussion is just an introduction.
        <p>
The separation of the three sections at the top-level of the archive
is important for all people who want to distribute Debian, either via
FTP servers on the Internet or on CD-ROMs: by distributing only the
<em/main/ and <em/contrib/ sections, one can avoid any legal risks.
Some packages in the <em/non-free/ section do not allow commercial
distribution, for example.
        <p>
On the other hand, a CD-ROM vendor could easily check the individual
package licenses of the packages in <em/non-free/ and include as many
on the CD-ROMs as he's allowed. (Since this varies greatly from vendor
to vendor, this job can't be done by the Debian developers.)


      <sect>Architectures
        <p>
In the first days, the Linux kernel was only available for the Intel
i386 (or greater) platforms, and so was Debian. But when Linux became
more and more popular, the kernel was ported to other architectures,
too.
        <p>
The Linux 2.0 kernel supports Intel, DEC Alphas, SUN Sparcs, M68000
(a.k.a. m68k) machines (like Atari and Amiga), MIPS, and PowerPC
(a.k.a. ppc).
        <p>
Debian GNU/Linux 1.3 is only available for Intel platforms.  Debian
2.0 supports Intel and m68k architectures.  The next version of Debian
is likely to also support Alpha, PPC, and Sparc architectures, if not
more.


      <sect>Subsections
        <p>
The sections <em/main/, <em/contrib/, and <em/non-free/ are split into
<em/subsections/ to simplify the installation process and the
maintainance of the archive.  Subections are not formally defined,
excepting perhaps for the "base" subsection.  Subsections exist simply
to simpilfy the organization and browsing of available packages.
Please check the current Debian distribution to see which sections are
available.



      <sect>Packages
        <p>
There are two types of Debian packages, namely <em/source/ and
<em/binary/ packages.
        <p>
Source packages consist of either two or three files: a <tt/.dsc/
file, and either one <tt/.tar.gz/ file or an <tt/.orig.tar.gz/ and a
<tt/.diff.gz/ file.
        <p>
If a package is developed specially for Debian and is not distributed
outside of Debian, there is just one <tt/.tar.gz/ file which contains
the sources of the program.
        <p>
If a package is distributed elsewhere too, the <tt/.orig.tar.gz/ file
stores the so-called <em/upstream source code/, that is the source
code that's distributed from the <em/upstream maintainer/ (often the
author of the software). In this case, the <tt/.diff.gz/ contains the
changes made by the Debian maintainer.
        <p>
The <tt/.dsc/ lists all the files in the source package together with
checksums (md5sums) and some additional info about the package
(maintainer, version, etc.).


      <sect>Distribution directories
        <p>
If you have a look at the Debian FTP server or one of its mirrors,
you'll discover that there is one additional directory level on top of
the directory tree, as described in the previous chapter. These
directories are the <em/distribution directories/.  All distributions
are contained in the <tt/dists/ directory in the top-level of the
Debian archive (the symlinks from the top-level directory to the
distributions themselves is for backwards compatability and
deprecated).

        <sect1>Stable, unstable, and sometimes frozen
        <p>
There is always a distribution called <em/stable/ (residing in
<tt>dists/stable</tt>) and one called <em/unstable/ (residing in
<tt>dists/unstable</tt>. This reflects the development process of the
Debian project.
        <p>
The ``development'' is done in the <em/unstable/ distribution (that's
why this distribution is sometimes called the <em/development
distribution/). 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 and since no special effort is done to test
this distribution it's sometimes ``unstable.''
        <p>
After a period of development, the <em/unstable/ distribution is
copied in a new distribution directory, called <em/frozen/. When that
occurs, 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/ distribution is renamed to <em/stable/,
overriding the old <em/stable/ distribution, which is removed at that
time.
        <p>
This development cycle is based on the assumption that the
<em/unstable/ distribution becomes <em/stable/ after passing a period
of testing as <em/frozen/. Unfortunately, even once a distribution is
considered stable, a few bugs inevitably remain--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
proposed additions to <em/stable/ in the <tt/proposed-updates/
directory.  Those packages in <tt/proposed-updates/ that pass muster
are periodically moved as a batch into the stable 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 is continued during the ``freeze'' period, since
a new <em/unstable/ distribution is be created when the older
<em/unstable/ is moved to <em/frozen/.
        <p>
In summary, there is always a <em/stable/ and an <em/unstable/
distribution available, and the <em/frozen/ distribution shows up for
a month or so from time to time.


        <sect1>Experimental
          <p>
The <em/experimental/ distribution is a specialty distribution.  It is
not a full distribution in the same sense that '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 packages from
<em/experimental/ are expected to have been duly warned.  In short,
all bets are off for the <em/experimental/ distribution.
          <p>
Developers should be very selective in the use of the
<em/experimental/ distribution.  Even if a package is highly unstable,
it could well still go into <em/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
<em/experimental/.
          <p>
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 <em/unstable/.


      <sect id="codenames">Release code names
        <p>
Every released Debian distribution has a <em/code name/: Debian 1.1 is
called <em/buzz/; Debian 1.2, <em/rex/; Debian 1.3, <em/bo/; Debian
2.0, <em/hamm/; Debian 2.1, <em/slink/.  There is also a
"pseudo-distribution", called <em/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 ``development
versions'' (unstable) are distributed via the Internet on the Debian
FTP server. This FTP server is mirrored by lots of other
systems. Thus, if we'd call the directory which contains the
development version simply `unstable', then we would have to rename it
to `stable' when the version is released, which would cause all FTP
mirrors to re-get the whole distribution (which is already very
large!).
        <p>
On the other hand, if we would call the distribution directories
<em>Debian-x.y</em> from the beginning, people would think that Debian
release <em>x.y</> is available. (This happened in the past, where a
CD-ROM vendor built a Debian 1.0 CD-ROM based on a pre-1.0 development
version. That's the reason why the first official Debian release was
1.1, and not 1.0.)
        <p>
Thus, the names of the distribution directories in the archive should
stay the same during the development period and after the release but
there may be symbolic links, which can be changed.
        <p>
That's why the distribution directories use the <em/code names/ and
there are symbolic links <em/stable/, <em/unstable/, <em/frozen/,
etc., which point to the appriopriate release directories.


    <chapt id="upload">Package uploads

      <sect>Announcing new packages
        <p>
If you want to create a new package for the Debian distribution, you
should first check the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/prospective-packages.html"
name="Work-Needing and Prospective Packages (WNPP)"> page.  Checking
the WNPP ensures that no one is already working on packaging that
software, and that effort is not duplicated. Assuming no one else is
already working on your prospective package, you must then send a
short email to <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ describing your
plan to create a new package.  You should set the subject of the email
to "intent to package <var/foobar/", substituting the name of the new
package for <var/foobar/.
        <p>
There are a number of reasons why we ask maintainers to follow these
steps.
          <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
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@lists.debian.org/ will be
picked up the the WNPP maintainer, and your intention will be
published in subsequent versions of the WNPP document.

            <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/ by default.

            <item>
It is helpful to the people who live off unstable (and form our first
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.


            <item>
We should not dismiss anybody who installs from unstable and helps us
debug our packages as "fools, fools, you installed from unstable; you
deserve what you get"--we derive a certain benefit from the alpha
testers.

          </list>


      <sect id="uploading">Uploading a package

        <sect1>Generating the changes file
          <p>
When a package is uploaded to the Debian FTP archive, it must be
accompanied by a <tt/.changes/ file which gives directions for its
handling.  This is usually generated by <prgn/dpkg-genchanges/.
          <p>
This file is a control file with the following fields:
<list compact>
              <item><tt/Format/
              <item><tt/Date/
              <item><tt/Source/
              <item><tt/Binary/
              <item><tt/Architecture/
              <item><tt/Version/
              <item><tt/Distribution/
              <item><tt/Urgency/
              <item><tt/Maintainer/
              <item><tt/Description/
              <item><tt/Changes/
              <item><tt/Files/
            </list>
          <p>
All of them are mandatory for a Debian upload.  See the list of
control fields in the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/packaging.html/"
name="Debian Packaging Manual"> for the contents of these fields.
          <p>
Notably, the <tt/Distribution/ field, which originates from the
<tt>debian/changelog</tt> file, should indicate which distribution the
package is intended for.  There are four possible values for this
field: <em/stable/, <em/unstable/, <em/frozen/, or <em/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/ and <em/unstable/ distributions, then
you might put <tt/stable unstable/ in the <tt>debian/changelog</tt>'s
distribution field.  Or, if Debian has been frozen, and you want to
get a bug-fix release into <em/frozen/, you would set the distribution
to <tt/frozen unstable/.  Note that setting the distribution to
<tt/stable/ means that the pacakge 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/.  Also note
that it never makes sense to combine the <em/experimental/
distribution with anything else.
          <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/ file; subsequent times the very same tar
file should be used to build the new diffs and <tt/.dsc/ files, and it
need not then be uploaded.
          <p>
By default <prgn/dpkg-genchanges/ and <prgn/dpkg-buildpackage/ will
include the original source tar file if and only if the Debian
revision part of the source version number is <tt/0/ or <tt/1/,
indicating a new upstream version.  This behaviour may be modified by
using <tt/-sa/ to always include it or <tt/-sd/ to always leave it
out.
          <p>
If no original source is included in the upload then the original
source tar-file used by <prgn/dpkg-source/ when constructing the
<tt/.dsc/ file and diff to be uploaded <em/must/ 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 original
source should be uploaded, possibly by using the <tt/-sa/ flag.


        <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).
<list>
              <item>
Install the package and make sure the software works, or upgrade the
package from an older version to your new version if a Debian package
for it already exists.

              <item>
Run <prgn/lintian/ over the package.  You can run <prgn/lintian/ as
follows: <tt>lintian -v <var>package-NN</var>.changes</tt>. This will
check the source package as well as the binary package.  If you don't
understand the output that <prgn/lintian/ generates, try adding the
<tt/-i/ switch, which will cause <prgn/lintian/ to output a very
verbose description of the problem.
                <p>
Normally, a package should <em/not/ be uploaded if it causes lintian
to emit errors (they will start with <tt/E/).
                <p>
For more information on <prgn/lintian/, see <ref id="lintian">.
              <item>
Downgrade the package to the previous version (if one exists) -- this
tests the <tt/postrm/ and <tt/prerm/ scripts.

              <item>
Remove the package, then reinstall it.

            </list>


        <sect1 id="upload-master">Transferring the files to master
          <p>
To upload a package, you need a personal account on
<ftpsite>master.debian.org</ftpsite>.  All maintainers should already
have this account.  You can use either <prgn/ssh/ or <prgn/ftp/ to
transfer the files.  In either case, the files need to be placed into
<ftppath>/home/Debian/ftp/private/project/Incoming</ftppath>.  (You
cannot upload to Incoming on master using anonymous FTP -- you must use
your username and password.)
          <p>
<em/Note:/ Do not upload packages containing software that is
export-controlled by the United States government to <tt/master/.
This includes almost all cryptographic software, and even software
that contains "hooks" to cryptographic software, such as electronic
mail readers that support PGP encryption and authentication.  Uploads
of such software should go to <tt/non-us/ (see below).  If you are
not sure whether U.S. export controls apply to your package, post a
message to <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ and ask.
          <p>
You may also find the Debian package <package/dupload/ useful when
uploading packages.  This handy program is distributed with defaults
for uploading via <prgn/ftp/ to <tt/master/, <tt/chiark/, and
<tt/erlangen/.  It can also be configured to use <prgn/ssh/.  See
<manref name="dupload" section="1"> and <manref name="dupload"
section="5"> for more information.


        <sect1>Uploads via Chiark
          <p>
If you have a slow network connection to <tt/master/, there are two
alternatives: You can upload files to Incoming via a cron-driven
upload queue in Europe on <tt/chiark/. For details connect to
<ftpsite>ftp.chiark.greenend.org.uk</ftpsite> using anonymous FTP and
read
<ftppath>/pub/debian/private/project/README.how-to-upload</ftppath>.
          <p>
The program <tt/dupload/ supports uploads to chiark, please refer to
the documentation that comes with the program for details.


        <sect1>Uploads via Erlangen
          <p>
Another cron-driven upload queue is available in Germany: just upload
the files via anonymous FTP to <url
id="ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/Linux/debian/UploadQueue">.
          <p>
The upload must be a complete Debian upload, as you would put it into
master's <tt/Incoming/, i.e., a <tt/.changes/ files along with the
other files mentioned in the <tt/.changes/. The queue daemon also
checks that the <tt/.changes/ is correctly PGP-signed by a Debian
developer, so that no bogus files can find their way to master via the
queue. Please also make sure that the <tt/Maintainer:/ field in the
<tt/.changes/ contains <em/your/ e-mail address. The address found
there is used for all replies, just as on master.
          <p>
There's no need to move your files into a second directory after the
upload as on chiark. 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 master, but in case of errors you're
notified, too.
          <p>
The program <prgn/dupload/ supports uploads to erlangen, please refer
to the documentation that comes with the program for details.


        <sect1>Uploading to the non-us server
          <p>
To upload a package to the <em/non-us/ server you just have to
transfer the files via anonymous ftp to <url
id="ftp://non-us.debian.org/pub/debian-non-US/Incoming">.  Note, that
the <tt>.changes</tt> file must have a valid PGP signature from one of
the keys of the developers key-ring.


      <sect>Announcing package uploads
        <p>
When a package is uploaded an announcement should be posted to one of
the debian-changes lists. The announcement should give the (source)
package name and version number, and a very short summary of the
changes, in the <em/Subject/ field, and should contain the PGP-signed
<tt/.changes/ file.  Some additional explanatory text may be added
before the start of the <tt/.changes/ file.
        <p>
If a package is released with the <tt/Distribution:/ set to
<tt/stable/, the announcement is sent to
<email/debian-changes@lists.debian.org/.
        <p>
If a package is released with <tt/Distribution:/ set to <tt/unstable/,
<tt/experimental/, or <tt/frozen/ (when present), the announcement
should be posted to <email/debian-devel-changes@lists.debian.org/
instead.
        <p>
On occasion, it is necessary to upload a package to both the <tt/stable/
and <tt/unstable/ distributions; this is done by putting both distributions
in the <tt/Distribution:/ line.  In such a case the upload announcement
should go to both of the above mailing lists.
        <p>
The <prgn/dupload/ program is clever enough to determine for itself
where the announcement should go, and will automatically mail the
announcement.  See <ref id="dupload">.

      <sect>Notification that a new package has been installed
        <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/.
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).
        <p>
In any case, you will receive notification indicating that the package
has been uploaded via email.  Please examine this notification
carefully.  Sometimes the "override" file which the archive
maintainers use to indicate where packages go, is incorrect or
out-of-sync with your control file.  In these cases, you should either
correct your control file or file a bug against <tt/ftp.debian.org/
using the BTS.

      <sect id="nmu">Interim releases
        <p>
Under certain circumstances it is necessary for someone other than the
usual package maintainer to make a release of a package.  For example,
a porter for another architecture may have to make some small changes
to the source package and does not wish to wait with uploading their
release until the main maintainer has incorporated the patch, or a
serious security problem or bug may have come to light requiring
immediate attention.
        <p>
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 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 package.
        <p>
When someone other than the usual maintainer releases a package they
should add a new component to the <var/debian-revision/ component of
the version number--that is, the portion after the (last) hyphen.
This extra component will start at <tt/1/.  This is to avoid
`stealing' one of the usual maintainer's version numbers, possibly
disrupting their work.  If there is no <var/debian-revision/ component
in the version number then one should be created, starting at <tt/1/.
        <p>
If it is absolutely necessary for someone other than the usual
maintainer to make a release based on a new upstream version then the
person making the release should start with the <var/debian-revision/
value <tt/0.1/.  The usual maintainer of a package should start their
<var/debian-revision/ numbering at <tt/1/.
        <p>
Maintainers other than the usual package maintainer should make as few
changes to the package as possible, and they should always send a
unified context diff (<tt/diff -u/) detailing their changes to the bug
tracking system properly flagged with the correct package so that the
usual maintainer is kept aware of the situation.
        <p>
If the non-maintainer upload (as known as an "NMU") fixes some
existing bugs, the bug reports should not be closed.  Technically,
only the official package maintainer or the original bug submitter are
allowed to close bugs. However, the person making the non-maintainer
release should send a short message to the bug tracking system to all
the fixed bugs explaining that they have been fixed.  Using
<email/control@bugs.debian.org/, the party doing the NMU should also
set the severity of the bugs fixed in the NMU to "fixed".  This
ensures that everyone knows that the bug was fixed in an NMU; however
the bug is left open until the changes in the NMU are incorporated
"officially" into the package by the official package maintainer.
        <p>
The normal maintainer should do at least one of the following:
          <list compact>
            <item>
apply the diff,
            <item>
read the diff and decide on each part of it themselves, or
            <item>
if the maintainer decides not to apply the patch but to release a new
version, read the description of the changes to the next upstream
version and ensure that they fix each problem that was fixed in the
non-maintainer release.
          </list>
        <p>
In addition, the normal maintainer should <em/always/ include an entry
in the changelog file documenting the non-maintainer upload.


      <sect>Maintainer changes
        <p>
Periodically, a listing of packages in need of new maintainers will be
sent to <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org</email> list. This list
is also available at in the Work-Needing and Prospective Packages
document (WNPP), <url
id="ftp://ftp.debian.org/debian/doc/package-developer/prospective-packages.html">
and at <url id="http://www.debian.org/doc/prospective-packages.html">.
If you wish to take over maintenance of any of the packages listed in
the WNPP, or if you can no longer maintain a packages you have, or you
simply want to know if any one is working on a new package, send a
message to <email/wnpp@debian.org/.

        <p>
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:/ field. If you do not expect to upload a new version
for a while, send an email to <email/override-change@debian.org/ so
that bug reports will go to you.


    <chapt id="archive-manip">Moving, Removing, Renaming, and Orphaning Packages
      <p>
Some archive manipulation operation are not automated in the Debian
upload process.  This chapter gives guidelines in what to do in these
cases.

      <sect>Moving packages
        <p>
Sometimes a package will change either its section or its subsection.
For instance, a package from the `non-free' section might be GPL'd in
a later version; in this case you should consider moving it to `main'
or `contrib' (see the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/debian-policy/" name="Debian Policy
Manual"> for guidelines).
        <p>
In this case, it is sufficient to edit the package control information
normally and re-upload the package (see the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/packaging.html/"
name="Debian Packaging Manual"> 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
<tt/ftp.debian.org/ asking that the old location be removed.  Give
details on what you did, since it might be a <prgn/dinstall/ bug.


      <sect>Removing packages
        <p>
If for some reason you want to completely remove a package (say, if it
is an old compatibility library which is not longer required), you
need to file a bug against <tt/ftp.debian.org/ asking that the
package be removed.  Make sure you indicate which distribution the
package should be removed from.
        <p>
If in doubt concerning whether a package is disposable, email
<email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ asking for opinions.


      <sect>Replacing or renaming packages
        <p>
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 <tt>debian/control</tt> file to replace and conflict with the
obsolete name of the package (see the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/packaging.html/"
name="Debian Packaging Manual"> for details).  Once you've uploaded
that package, and the package has moved into the archive, file a bug
against <tt/ftp.debian.org/ asking to remove the package with the
obsolete name.


      <sect>Orphaning a package
        <p>
If you can no longer maintain a package, then you should set the
package maintainer to <tt>Debian QA
&lt;debian-qa@lists.debian.org&gt;</tt> and email
<email/wnpp@debian.org/ indicating that the package is now orphaned.
If the package is especially crucial to Debian, you should instead
email <email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ asking for a new
maintainer.


    <chapt id="bug-handling">Handling Bug Reports

      <sect>Monitoring bugs
        <p>
If you want to be a good maintainer, you should periodically check the
<url id="http://www.debian.org/Bugs/" name="Debian bug tracking system
(BTS)"> for your packages.  The BTS contains all the open bugs against 
your packages.
        <p>
Maintainers interact with the BTS via email addresses at
<tt/bugs.debian.org/.  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, you can look at the local
files <tt>/usr/doc/debian/bug-*</tt>.
        <p>
Often as a package maintainer, you find bugs in other packages or else
have bugs reported to your packages which need to be reassigned.  The
BTS instructions can tell you how to do this.  Make sure the bug is
not already filed against a package.  Try to do a good job reporting a
bug and redirecting it to the proper location.  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 not empowered to actually close the bug
(unless you secure permission from the maintainer).


      <sect>When bugs are closed by new uploads
        <p>
If you fix a bug in your packages, it is your responsibility as the
package maintainer to close the bug when it has been fixed.  However,
you should not close the bug until the package which fixes the bug has
been accepted into the Debian archive.  Therefore, once you get
notification that your updated package has been installed into the
archive, you can and should close the bug in the BTS.
        <p>
Again, see the BTS documentation for details on how to do this.
Often, it's sufficient to mail the <tt/.changes file to
<email/<var/XXX/-done@bugs.debian.org/, where <var/XXX/ is your bug
number.

      <sect id="lintian-reports">Lintian reports
        <p>
You should periodically get the new <package/lintian/ from `unstable' and
check over all your packages.  Alternatively you can check for your
maintainer email address at the <url
id="http://www.debian.org/lintian/" name="online lintian report">.
That report, which is updated automatically, contains <prgn/lintian/
reports against the latest version of the distribution (usually from
'unstable') using the latest <package/lintian/.


      <sect>Reporting lots of bugs at once
        <p>
If you report more then 10 bugs on the same topic at once, it is
recommended that you send a message to
<email/debian-devel@lists.debian.org/ describing your intention before
submitting the report. This will allow other developers to verify
that the bug is a real problem. In addition, it will help prevent
a situation in which several maintainers start filing the same bug
report simultaneously.
        <p>
Note that when sending lots of bugs on the same subject, you should
send the bug report to <email/maintonly@bugs.debian.org/ so that the
bug report is not forwarded to the bug distribution mailing list.


    <chapt id="tools">Overview of Debian Maintainer Tools
      <p>
This section contains a rough overview of the tools available to
maintainers.  These tools are meant to help convenience developers and 
free their time for critical tasks.  
      <p>
Some people prefer to use high-level package maintenance tools and
some do not.  Debian is officially agnostic on this issue; any tool
which gets the job done is fine.  Therefore, this section is not meant
to stipulate to anyone which tools they should use or how they should
go about with their duties of maintainership.  Nor is it meant to
endorse any particular tool to the exclusion of a competing tool.
      <p>
Most of the descriptions of these packages come from the actual
package descriptions themselves.

      <sect id="dpkg-dev">
        <heading><package/dpkg-dev/
        <p>
<package/dpkg-dev/ contains the tools (including
<prgn/dpkg-source/) required to unpack, build and upload Debian source
packages.  These utilities contain the fundamental, low-level
functionality required to create and manipulated packages; as such,
they are required for any Debian maintainer.

      <sect id="lintian">
        <heading><package/lintian/
        <p>
<package/Lintian/ dissects Debian packages and reports bugs and
policy violations. It contains automated checks for many aspects of
Debian policy as well as some checks for common errors.  The use of
<package/lintian/ has already been discussed in <ref
id="upload-checking"> and <ref id="lintian-reports">.

      <sect id="debhelper">
        <heading><package/debhelper/
        <p>
<package/debhelper/ is a collection of programs that can be used in
<tt>debian/rules</tt> to automate common tasks related to building
binary Debian packages. Programs are included to install various files
into your package, compress files, fix file permissions, integrate
your package with the Debian menu system.
        <p>
Unlike <package/debmake/, <package/debhelper/ is broken into
several small, granular commands which act in a consistent manner.  As
such, it allows a greater granularity of control than
<package/debmake/.

      <sect id="debmake">
        <heading><package/debmake/
        <p>
<package/debmake/, a pre-cursor to <package/debhelper/, is a
less granular <tt>debian/rules</tt> assistant. It includes two main
programs: <prgn>deb-make</prgn>, which can be used to help a
maintainer convert a regular (non-Debian) source archive into a Debian
source package; and <prgn>debstd</prgn>, which incorporates in one big
shot the same sort of automated functions that one finds in
<package/debhelper/.

      <sect id="cvs-buildpackage">
        <heading><package/cvs-buildpackage/
        <p>
<package/cvs-buildpackage/ provides the capability to inject or
import Debian source packages into a CVS repository, build a Debian
package from the CVS repository, and helps in integrating upstream
changes into the repository.
        <p>
These utilities provide an infrastructure to facilitate the use of CVS
by Debian maintainers. This allows one to keep separate CVS branches
of a package for <em/stable/, <em/unstable/, and possibly
<em/experimental/ distributions, along with the other benefits of a
version control system.

      <sect id="dupload">
        <heading><package/dupload/
        <p>
<package/dupload/ is a package and a script to automagically upload
Debian packages to the Debian archive, to log the upload, and to send
mail about the upload of a package.  You can configure it for new
upload locations or methods.

  </book>
</debiandoc>

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