1 <!doctype debiandoc system>
5 <title> Policy checklist for upgrading your packages </title>
6 <author> Bill Allombert <email/ballombe@debian.org/ </author>
7 <author> Josip Rodin </author>
8 <author> Julian Gilbey </author>
9 <author> Russ Allbery </author>
10 <author> Manoj Srivastava <email/srivasta@debian.org/
12 <chapt> About the checklist
14 The checklist below has been created to simplify the upgrading process
15 of old packages. Note that this list is not "official"; it simply
16 gives an indication of what has changed and whether you are likely to
17 need to make changes to your package in light of this. If you have
18 doubts about a certain topic, if you need more details, or if you
19 think some other package does not comply with policy, please refer to
20 the Policy Manual itself. All of the changes from version 3.0.0
21 onwards indicate which section of the Policy Manual discusses the
22 issue: [3.4] means section 3.4. The section numbering changed when
23 the packaging manual was incorporated into policy; the section numbers
24 used below refer to the current version.
26 Here is how the check list works: Check which policy version your
27 package was checked against last (indicated in the "Standards-Version"
28 field of the source package). Then move upwards until the top and
29 check which of the items on the list might concern your package. Note
30 which sections of policy discuss this, and then check out the Policy
31 Manual for details. If you are upgrading from Policy version < 2.5.0,
32 it may be easier to check through the whole of policy instead of
33 picking your way through this list.
37 <sect> Version 3.9.1.0
44 <item>Maintainer scripts must pass <tt>--package</tt>
45 to <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> when creating or removing diversions and
46 must not use <tt>--local</tt>.
49 <item>Architecture restrictions and wildcards are also allowed in binary
50 package relationships provided that the binary package is not
51 architecture-independent.
54 <item><tt>Conflicts</tt> and <tt>Breaks</tt> should only be used when
55 there are file conflicts or one package breaks the other, not just
56 because two packages provide similar functionality but don't interfere.
58 <tag>8.6.1, 8.6.2, 8.6.5</tag>
59 <item>Packages should normally not include a <file>shlibs.local</file>
60 file since we now have complete <file>shlibs</file> coverage.
63 <item>The SONAME of a library may instead be of the
64 form <tt><var>name</var>-<var>major-version</var>.so</tt>.
67 <item>Libtool <file>.la</file> files should not be installed for public
68 libraries. If they're required (for <tt>libltdl</tt>, for instance),
69 the <tt>dependency_libs</tt> setting should be emptied. Library
70 packages historically including <file>.la</file> files must continue to
71 include them (with <tt>dependency_libs</tt> emptied) until all libraries
72 that depend on that library have removed or emptied
73 their <file>.la</file> files.
76 <item>Libraries no longer need to be built with <tt>-D_REENTRANT</tt>,
77 which was an obsolete LinuxThreads requirement. Instead, say explicitly
78 that libraries should be built with threading support and to be
79 thread-safe if the library supports this.
82 <item>The GPL version 1 is now included in common-licenses and should be
83 referenced from there instead of included in the <file>copyright</file>
88 <sect> Version 3.9.0.0
94 <tag>4.4, 5.6.15</tag>
95 <item>The required format for the date in a changelog entry and in the
96 Date control field is now precisely specified.
99 <item>A control paragraph must not contain more than one instance of a
100 particular field name.
102 <tag>5.4, 5.5, 5.6.24</tag>
103 <item>Document and recommend the <tt>Checksums-Sha1</tt>
104 and <tt>Checksums-Sha256</tt> fields in <file>*.dsc</file>
105 and <file>*.changes</file> files.
107 <tag>5.5, 5.6.16</tag>
108 <item>The <tt>Format</tt> field of <file>.changes</file> files is now
109 1.8. The <tt>Format</tt> field syntax for source
110 package <file>.dsc</file> files allows a subtype in parentheses, and it
111 is used for a different purpose than the <tt>Format</tt> field
112 for <file>.changes</file> files.
115 <item>The syntax of the <tt>Maintainer</tt> field is now must rather
119 <item>The comma separating entries in <tt>Uploaders</tt> is now must
122 <tag>5.6.8, 7.1, 11.1.1</tag>
123 <item>Architecture wildcards may be used in addition to specific
124 architectures in <file>debian/control</file> and <file>*.dsc</file>
125 Architecture fields, and in architecture restrictions in build
129 <item>Maintainer scripts are no longer guaranteed to run with a
130 controlling terminal and must be able to fall back to noninteractive
131 behavior (debconf handles this). Maintainer scripts may abort if there
132 is no controlling terminal and no reasonable default for a high-priority
133 question, but should avoid this if possible.
135 <tag>7.3, 7.6.1</tag>
136 <item><tt>Breaks</tt> should be used with <tt>Replaces</tt> for moving
137 files between packages.
140 <item><tt>Breaks</tt> should normally be used instead
141 of <tt>Conflicts</tt> for transient issues and moving files between
142 packages. New documentation of when each should be used.
145 <item>Use <tt>Conflicts</tt> with <tt>Provides</tt> if only one provider
146 of a virtual facility can be installed at a time.
149 <item>All shared library development files are no longer required to be
150 in the <tt>-dev</tt> package, only be available when the <tt>-dev</tt>
151 package is installed. This allows the <tt>-dev</tt> package to be split
152 as long as it depends on the additional packages.
155 <item>The UID range of user accounts is extended to 1000-59999.
157 <tag>9.3.2, 10.4</tag>
158 <item><file>init.d</file> scripts are a possible exception from the
159 normal requirement to use <tt>set -e</tt> in each shell script.
162 <item>The UCB BSD license was removed from the list of licenses that
163 should be referenced from <file>/usr/share/common-licenses/BSD</file>.
164 It should instead be included directly
165 in <file>debian/copyright</file>, although it will still be in
166 common-licenses for the time being.
169 <item>Add <tt>SETTITLE</tt> (which has been supported for some time).
170 Like <tt>TITLE</tt> but takes a template instead of a string to allow
174 <item><package>perl-base</package> now
175 provides <package>perlapi-<var>abiname</var></package> instead of a
176 package based solely on the Perl version. Perl packages must now depend
177 on <package>perlapi-$Config{debian_abi}</package>, falling back
178 on <tt>$Config{version}</tt> if <tt>$Config{debian_abi}</tt> is not set.
181 <item>Packages using <file>Makefile.PL</file> should use
182 <tt>DESTDIR</tt> rather than <tt>PREFIX</tt> to install into the package
183 staging area. <tt>PREFIX</tt> only worked due to a Debian-local patch.
187 <sect> Version 3.8.4.0
194 <item> An FHS exception has been granted for multiarch libraries.
195 Permitting files to instead be installed to <file>/lib/triplet</file> and
196 <file>/usr/lib/triplet</file> directories.
199 <item>Explicitly state that packages may not contain named pipes and
200 should instead create them in postinst and remove them in prerm or postrm.
203 <item><file>/sys</file> and <file>/selinux</file> directories are explicitly
204 allowed as an exception to the FHS.
208 <sect> Version 3.8.3.0
214 <item>Add DEB_*_ARCH_CPU and DEB_*_ARCH_OS variables and
215 recommend them over GNU-style variables for that information.
218 <item>Source package Architecture fields may contain <em/all/ in
219 combination with other architectures. Clarify when <em/all/ and <em/any/
220 may be used in different versions of the field.
223 <item>The Debian archive software does not support uploading
224 to multiple distributions with one <file>*.changes</file> file.
227 <item>The Binary field may span multiple lines.
230 <item>Remove the permission for shared library packages to
231 install libraries in a non-standard location and modify <file/ld.so.conf/.
232 Packages should either be installed in a standard library directory
233 or packages using them should be built with RPATH.
236 <item>Clarify installation directories for X programs and
237 remove the requirement to pre-depend on x11-common before installing
238 into <file>/usr/include/X11</file> and <file>/usr/lib/X11</file>.
241 <item>Remove the requirement that all characters in a manual
242 page be representable in the legacy encoding for that language.
245 <item>Localized man pages should either be kept up-to-date with
246 the original version or warn that they're not up-to-date, either
247 with warning text or by showing missing or changed portions in the
251 <item>install-info is now handled via triggers so packages no
252 longer need to invoke it in maintainer scripts. Info documents
253 should now have directory sections and entries in the document.
254 Packages containing info documents should add a dependency to
255 support partial upgrades.
258 <item>The requirement for Perl modules to have a versioned
259 Depend and Build-Depend on <tt>perl >= 5.6.0-16</tt> has been removed.
263 <sect> Version 3.8.2.0
270 <item>The list of archive sections has been significantly expanded. See
271 <url id="http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2009/03/msg00010.html"
272 name="this debian-devel-announce message">
273 for the list of new sections and rules for how to categorize
277 <item>All packages must use debconf or equivalent for user prompting,
278 though essential packages or their dependencies may also fall
279 back on other methods.
282 <item>The requirements for source package names are now explicitly
286 <item>Legacy XFree86 servers no longer get a special exception from the
287 FHS permitting <file>/etc/X11/XF86Config-4</file>.
290 <item>Removed obsolete dependency requirements for packages that use
291 <file>/var/mail</file>.
294 <item>Speedo fonts are now deprecated. The X backend was disabled
298 <item>The GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 is included in
299 common-licenses and should be referenced from there.
303 <sect> Version 3.8.1.0
310 <item>Care should be taken when adding functionality to essential and
311 such additions create an obligation to support that functionality
312 in essential forever unless significant work is done.
315 <item>Changelog files must be encoded in UTF-8.
318 <item>Tighten some format requirements for changelog files from a should
322 <item>Remove alternative changelog formats. Debian only supports one
323 changelog format for the Debian Archive.
326 <item>New nocheck option for DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS indicating any build-time
327 test suite provided by the package should not be run.
330 <item>All control files must be encoded in UTF-8.
333 <item>debian/control allows comment lines starting with # with no
334 preceding whitespace.
337 <item>Init scripts ending in .sh are not handled specially. They are not
338 sourced and are not guaranteed to be run by <prgn>/bin/sh</prgn> regardless
339 of the #! line. This brings Policy in line with the long-standing
340 behavior of the init system in Debian.
343 <item>The start action of an init script must exit successfully and not
344 start the daemon again if it's already running.
347 <item><file>/var/run</file> and <file>/var/lock</file> may be mounted as
348 temporary filesystems, and init scripts must therefore create any necessary
349 subdirectories dynamically.
352 <item> <file>/bin/sh</file> scripts may assume that local can take multiple
353 variable arguments and supports assignment.
356 <item>User mailboxes may be mode 600 and owned by the user rather than
357 mode 660, owned by user, and group mail.
361 <sect> Version 3.8.0.0
368 <item>The base section has been removed. contrib and non-free have been
369 removed from the section list; they are only categories. The base
370 system is now defined by priority.
372 <item>If <prgn>dpkg-source -x</prgn> doesn't provide the source that will be
373 compiled, a debian/rules patch target is recommended and should do whatever
375 <tag>4.9.1, 10.1</tag>
376 <item>Standardized the format of DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS. Specified permitted
377 characters for tags, required that tags be whitespace-separated,
378 allowed packages to assume non-conflicting tags, and required
379 unknown flags be ignored.
381 <item>Added parallel=n to the standardized DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS tags,
382 indicating that a package should be built using up to n parallel
383 processes if the package supports it
385 <item>Debian packages should not use convenience copies of code from other
386 packages unless the included package is explicitly intended to be
389 <item>If dpkg-source -x doesn't produce source ready for editing and
390 building with dpkg-buildpackage, packages should include a
391 <file>debian/README.source</file> file explaining how to generate
392 the patched source, add a new modification, and remove an existing
393 modification. This file may also be used to document packaging a
394 new upstream release and any other complexity of the Debian build
397 <item>The Uploaders field in debian/control may be wrapped.
399 <item>An empty Debian revision is equivalent to a Debian revision of 0 in
402 <item>New Homepage field for upstream web sites.
403 <tag>6.5, 6.6, 7</tag>
404 <item>The Breaks field declares that this package breaks another and
405 prevents installation of the breaking package unless the package
406 named in Breaks is deconfigured first. This field should not be
407 used until the dpkg in Debian stable supports it.
409 <item>Clarify which files should go into a shared library package, into a
410 separate package, or into the -dev package. Suggest -tools instead
411 of -runtime for runtime support programs, since that naming is more
414 <item>Files in <file>/etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}</file> must be
415 configuration files (upgraded from should). Mention the hourly
418 <item>Packages providing <file>/etc/X11/Xresources</file> files need not
419 conflict with <tt> xbase (<< 3.3.2.3a-2)</tt>, which is
422 <item>Manual pages in locale-specific directories should use either the
423 legacy encoding for that directory or UTF-8. Country names should
424 not be included in locale-specific manual page directories unless
425 indicating a significant difference in the language. All
426 characters in the manual page source should be representable in the
427 legacy encoding for a locale even if the man page is encoded in
430 <item>The Apache 2.0 license is now in common-licenses and should be
431 referenced rather than quoted in <file>debian/copyright</file>.
433 <item>Packages in contrib and non-free should state in the copyright file
434 that the package is not part of Debian GNU/Linux and briefly
437 <item>Underscore (_) is allowed in debconf template names.
440 <sect> Version 3.7.3.0
447 <item>Package version numbers may contain tildes, which sort before
448 anything, even the end of a part.
450 <item>Scripts may assume that <file>/bin/sh</file> supports local (at a basic
451 level) and that its test builtin (if any) supports -a and -o binary
454 <item>The substitution variable ${binary:Version} should be used in place
455 of ${Source-Version} for dependencies between packages of the same
457 <tag>menu policy</tag>
458 <item>Substantial reorganization and renaming of sections in the Debian
459 menu structure. Packages with menu entries should be reviewed to
460 see if the menu section has been renamed or if one of the new
461 sections would be more appropriate.
463 <item>The Source field in a .changes file may contain a version number
466 <item>The acceptable values for the Urgency field are low, medium, high,
467 critical, or emergency.
469 <item>The shlibs file now allows an optional type field, indicating the
470 type of package for which the line is valid. The only currently
471 supported type is udeb, used with packages for the Debian
474 <item>Packages following the Debian Configuration management
475 specification must allow for translation of their messages by using
476 a gettext-based system such as po-debconf.
478 <item>GFDL 1.2, GPL 3, and LGPL 3 are now in common-licenses and should
479 be referenced rather than quoted in debian/copyright.
482 <sect> Version 3.7.2.2
488 <tag>6.1</tag> <item>Maintainer scripts must not be world writeable (up from a
489 should to a must)</item>
492 <sect> Version 3.7.2.0
498 <tag>11.5</tag> <item>Revert the cgi-lib change. </item>
501 <sect> Version 3.7.1.0
508 <item>It is now possible to create shared libraries without
509 relocatable code (using -fPIC) in certain exceptional cases,
510 provided some procedures are followed, and for creating static
511 libraries with relocatable code (again, using -fPIC).
512 Discussion on debian-devel@lists.debian.org, getting a rough
513 consensus, and documenting it in README.Debian constitute most
516 <item>Packages should install any relevant files into the directories
517 <file>/usr/include/X11/</file> and <file>/usr/lib/X11/</file>, but if
518 they do so, they must pre-depend on <tt>x11-common (>= 1:7.0.0)</tt>
521 <sect> Version 3.7.0.0
528 <item>Packages shipping web server CGI files are expected to install
529 them in <file>/usr/lib/cgi-lib/</file> directories. This location change
530 perhaps should be documented in NEWS
532 <item>Web server packages should include a standard scriptAlias of
533 cgi-lib to <file>/usr/lib/cgi-lib</file>.
535 <item>The version of FHS mandated by policy has been upped to
536 2.3. There should be no changes required for most packages,
537 though new top level directories <file>/media</file>, <file>/srv</file>,
538 etc. may be of interest.
539 <tag>5.1, 5.6.3</tag>
540 <item>All fields, apart from the Uploaders field, in the control file
541 are supposed to be a single logical line, which may be spread
542 over multiple physical lines (newline followed by space is
543 elided). However, any parser for the control file must allow
544 the Uploaders field to be spread over multiple physical lines
545 as well, to prepare for future changes.
547 <item>When scripts are installed into a directory in the system
548 PATH, the script name should not include an extension that
549 denotes the scripting language currently used to implement it.
552 <item>packages that invoke initscripts now must use invoke-rc.d to do
553 so since it also pays attention to run levels and other local
555 <tag>11.8.5.2, 11.8.7, etc</tag>
556 <item>We no longer use <file>/usr/X11R6</file>, since we have
557 migrated away to using Xorg paths. This means, for one thing, fonts
558 live in <file>/usr/share/fonts/X11/</file> now, and <file>/usr/X11R6</file>
562 <sect> Version 3.6.2.0
569 <item>Recommend. doc-base, and not menu, for registering package documentation.
572 <item>Run time support programs should live in subdirectories of
573 <file>/usr/lib/</file> or <file>/usr/share</file>, and preferably the shared
574 lib is named the same as the package name (to avoid name collisions).
577 <item>It is recommended that HTTP servers provide an alias /images to
578 allow packages to share image files with the web server
582 <sect> Version 3.6.1.0
589 <item>Prompting the user should be done using debconf. Non debconf
590 user prompts are now deprecated.
600 <item>Restructuring causing shifts in section numbers and bumping of
601 the minor version number:
603 <item>Many packaging manual appendices that were integrated into policy
604 sections are now empty, and replaced with links to the Policy.
605 In particular, the appendices that included the list of control
606 fields were updated (new fields like Closes, Changed-By were added)
607 and the list of fields for each of control, .changes and .dsc files
608 is now in Policy, and they're marked mandatory, recommended or
609 optional based on the current practice and the behavior of the
610 deb-building tool-chain.
612 <item>Elimination of needlessly deep section levels, primarily in the
613 chapter Debian Archive, from which two new chapters were split out,
614 Binary packages and Source packages. What remained was reordered
615 properly, that is, some sects became sects etc.
617 <item>Several sections that were redundant, crufty or simply not designed
618 with any sort of vision, were rearranged according to the formula that
619 everything should be either in the same place or properly interlinked.
620 Some things remained split up between different chapters when they
621 talked about different aspects of files: their content, their syntax,
622 and their placement in the file system. In particular, see the new
623 sections about changelog files.
624 <tag>menu policy</tag>
625 <item>Added Games/Simulation and Apps/Education to menu
628 <item>Debian changelogs should be UTF-8 encoded.
630 <item>shared libraries must be linked against all libraries that they
631 use symbols from in the same way that binaries are.
633 <item>build-depends-indep need not be satisfied during clean
637 <sect> Version 3.5.10
644 <item>packages providing the x-terminal-emulator virtual package
645 ought to ensure that they interpret the command line exactly
648 <item>Window managers compliant with the Window Manager Specification
649 Project may add 40 points for ranking in the alternatives
652 <sect> Version 3.5.9.0
659 <item>The section describing the Description: package field once again has
660 full details of the long description format.
662 <item>Clarified that if a package has non-build-essential
663 build-dependencies, it should have them listed in the Build-Depends
664 and related fields (i.e. it's not merely optional).
666 <item>When asked to restart a service that isn't already running,
667 the init script should start the service.
669 <item>If the purpose of a package is to provide examples, then the
670 example files can be installed into <file>/usr/share/doc/package</file>
671 (rather than <file>/usr/share/doc/package/examples</file>).
674 <sect> Version 3.5.8.0
681 <item>It is no longer necessary to keep a log of changes to the upstream
682 sources in the copyright file. Instead, all such changes should be
683 documented in the changelog file.
685 <item><var/Build-Depends/, <var/Build-Conflicts/, <var/Build-Depends-Indep/,
686 and <var/Build-Conflicts-Indep/ must also be satisfied when the clean
688 <tag>menu policy</tag>
689 <item>A new Apps/Science menu section is available
690 <tag>debconf policy</tag>
691 <item>debconf specification cleared up, various changes.
693 <item>It is no longer recommended to create symlinks from nonexistent
694 manual pages to undocumented(7). Missing manual pages for programs
698 <sect> Version 3.5.7.0
705 <item>Packages no longer have to ask permission to call MAKEDEV in
706 postinst, merely notifying the user ought to be enough.
708 <item>cryptographic software may now be included in the main
711 <item>task packages are no longer permitted; tasks are now created by a
712 special Tasks: field in the control file.
714 <item>window managers that support netwm can now add 20 points when
715 they add themselves as an alternative for
716 <file>/usr/bin/x-window-manager</file>
718 <item>The default compilation options have now changed, one should
719 provide debugging symbols in all cases, and optionally step
720 back optimization to -O0, depending on the DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS
721 environment variable.
723 <item>Added mention of build-arch, build-indep, etc, in describing
724 the relationships with `Build-Depends', `Build-Conflicts',
725 `Build-Depends-Indep', and `Build-Conflicts-Indep'. May need to
726 review the new rules.
728 <item>Changed rules on how, and when, to invoke ldconfig in maintainer
729 scripts. Long rationale.
733 Added the last note in 3.5.6 upgrading checklist item regarding build
734 rules, please see below
737 <sect> Version 3.5.6.0
744 <item>Emacs and TeX are no longer mandated by policy to be priority
747 <item>Programs that access docs need to do so via <file>/usr/share/doc</file>,
748 and not via <file>/usr/doc/</file> as was the policy previously
750 <item>Putting documentation in <file>/usr/doc</file> versus
751 <file>/usr/share/doc</file> is now a ``serious'' policy violation.
753 <item>For web servers, one should not provide non-local access to the
754 <file>/usr/share/doc</file> hierarchy. If one can't provide access
755 controls for the http://localhost/doc/ directory, then it is preferred
756 that one ask permission to expose that information during the install.
758 <item>There are new rules for build-indep/build-arch targets and
759 there is a new Build-Depend-Indep semantic.
762 <sect> Version 3.5.5.0
769 <item>Manpages should not rely on header information to have
770 alternative manpage names available; it should only use
771 symlinks or .so pages to do this
774 <item><em> Clarified note in 3.5.3.0 upgrading checklist regarding
775 examples and templates: this refers only to those examples used
776 by scripts; see section 10.7.3 for the whole story</em>
779 <item>Included a new section 10.9.1 describing the use of
780 dpkg-statoverride; this does not have the weight of policy
783 <item>Clarify Standards-Version: you don't need to rebuild your
784 packages just to change the Standards-Version!
787 <item>Plugins are no longer bound by all the rules of shared
790 <tag>X Windows related things:</tag>
793 <item>Clarification of priority levels of X Window System related
797 <item>Rules for defining x-terminal-emulator improved </item>
799 <item>X Font policy rewritten: you must read this if you provide
800 fonts for the X Window System
803 <item>Packages must not ship <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/</file>
806 <item>X-related packages should usually use the regular FHS
807 locations; imake-using packages are exempted from this
810 <item>OpenMotif linked binaries have the same rules as
811 OSF/Motif-linked ones
816 <sect> Version 3.5.4.0
817 <p> Released Apr 2001.
821 <item>The system-wide mail directory is now /var/mail, no longer
822 /var/spool/mail. Any packages accessing the mail spool should
823 access it via /var/mail and include a suitable Depends field;
826 <tag>11.9; perl-policy</tag>
827 <item>The perl policy is now part of Debian policy
828 proper. Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl
833 <sect> Version 3.5.3.0
834 <p> Released Apr 2001
838 <item>Build-Depends arch syntax has been changed to be less
839 ambiguous. This should not affect any current packages
842 <item>Examples and templates files for use by scripts should now live
843 in <file>/usr/share/<package></file> or
844 <file>/usr/lib/<package></file>, with symbolic links from
845 <file>/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples</file> as needed
849 <sect> Version 3.5.2.0
851 <p> Released Feb 2001.
855 <item>X app-defaults directory has moved from
856 <file>/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults</file> to
857 <file>/etc/X11/app-defaults</file>
861 <sect> Version 3.5.1.0
863 <p> Released Feb 2001.
867 <item>dpkg-shlibdeps now uses objdump, so shared libraries have to be
868 run through dpkg-shlibdeps as well as executables
872 <sect> Version 3.5.0.0
874 <p> Released Jan 2001.
878 <item>Font packages for the X Window System must now declare a
879 dependency on xutils (>= 4.0.2)
883 <sect> Version 3.2.1.1
885 <p> Released Jan 2001.
889 <item>Daemon startup scripts in <file>/etc/init.d/</file> should not contain
890 modifiable parameters; these should be moved to a file in
891 <file>/etc/default/</file>
894 <item>Files in <file>/usr/share/doc</file> must not be referenced by any
895 program. If such files are needed, they must be placed in
896 <file>/usr/share/<package>/</file>, and symbolic links
897 created as required in <file>/usr/share/doc/<package>/</file>
900 <item>Much of the packaging manual has now been imported into the
905 <sect> Version 3.2.1.0
911 <item>A package of priority standard or higher may provide two
912 binaries, one compiled with support for the X Window System,
913 and the other without
917 <sect> Version 3.2.0.0
923 <item>By default executables should not be built with the debugging
924 option -g. Instead, it is recommended to support building the
925 package with debugging information optionally. Details in
928 <item>Policy for packages where the upstream uses HTML changelog
929 files has been expanded. In short, a plain text changelog file
930 should always be generated for the upstream changes
933 <item>Please note that the new release of the X window system (3.2)
934 shall probably need sweeping changes in policy
937 <item>Policy for packages providing the following X-based features
941 <item>X server (virtual package xserver) </item>
943 <item>X terminal emulator (virtual package x-terminal-emulator) </item>
945 <item>X window manager (virtual package x-window-manager, and
946 <file>/usr/bin/x-window-manager</file> alternative, with priority
947 calculation guidelines)
950 <item>X fonts (this section has been written from scratch) </item>
952 <item>X application defaults </item>
956 <item>Policy for packages using the X Window System and FHS issues
960 <item>No package may contain or make hard links to conffiles </item>
962 <item>Noted that newer dpkg versions do not require extreme care in
963 always creating the shared lib before the symlink, so the unpack
968 <sect> Version 3.1.1.0
970 <p> Released Nov 1999.
974 <item>Correction to semantics of architecture lists in Build-Depends
975 etc. Should not affect many packages
979 <sect> Version 3.1.0.0
981 <p> Released Oct 1999.
985 <item><file>/usr/doc/<package></file> has to be a symlink pointing to
986 <file>/usr/share/doc/<package></file>, to be maintained by postinst
990 <item>Introduced source dependencies (Build-Depends, etc.) </item>
992 <item><file>/etc/rc.boot</file> has been deprecated in favour of
993 <file>/etc/rcS.d</file>. (Packages should not be touching this directory,
994 but should use update-rc.d instead)
997 <item>update-rc.d is now the <em>only</em> allowable way of accessing the
998 <file>/etc/rc?.d/[SK]??*</file> links. Any scripts which manipulate them
999 directly must be changed to use update-rc.d instead. (This is
1000 because the file-rc package handles this information in an
1004 <item>Architecture-specific examples go in
1005 <file>/usr/lib/<package>/examples</file>
1006 with symlinks from <file>/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples/*</file>
1007 or from <file>/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples</file> itself
1010 <item>Updated FHS to a 2.1 draft; this reverts <file>/var/state</file> to
1011 <file>/var/lib</file>
1013 <tag>9.7; mime-policy</tag>
1014 <item>Added MIME sub-policy document </item>
1016 <item>VISUAL is allowed as a (higher priority) alternative to EDITOR
1019 <item>Modified liblockfile description, which affects
1020 mailbox-accessing programs. Please see the policy document for
1024 <item>If a package provides a changelog in HTML format, a text-only
1025 version should also be included. (Such a version may be prepared
1026 using <prgn>lynx -dump -nolist</prgn>.)
1029 <item>Description of how to handle version numbers based on dates
1034 <sect> Version 3.0.1.0
1036 <p> Released Jul 1999.
1040 <item>Added the clarification that the .la files are essential for
1041 the packages using libtool's libltdl library, in which case the .la
1042 files must go in the run-time library package
1046 <sect> Version 3.0.0.0
1048 <p> Released Jun 1999.
1052 <item>Debian formally moves from the FSSTND to the FHS. This is a
1053 major change, and the implications of this move are probably
1057 <item>Only 3 digits of the Standards version need be included in
1058 control files, though all four digits are still permitted.
1061 <item>The location of the GPL has changed to
1062 <file>/usr/share/common-licenses</file>. This may require changing the
1063 copyright files to point to the correct location of the GPL and
1064 other major licenses
1067 <item>Packages that use libtool to create shared libraries must
1068 include the .la files in the -dev packages
1071 <item>Use logrotate to rotate log files
1074 <item>section 5.8 has been rewritten (Programs for the X Window
1077 <tag>9.6; menu-policy</tag>
1078 <item>There is now an associated menu policy, in a separate document,
1079 that carries the full weight of Debian policy
1082 <item>Programs which need to modify the files <file>/var/run/utmp</file>,
1083 <file>/var/log/wtmp</file> and <file>/var/log/lastlog</file> must be
1084 installed setgid utmp
1088 Please note that section numbers below this point may not be up to date
1091 <sect> Version 2.5.0.0
1093 <p> Released Oct 1998.
1097 <item>Rearranged the manual to create a new Section 4, Files
1099 <item>Section 3.3 ("Files") was moved to Section 4. The Sections
1100 that were Section 4 and Section 5 were moved down to become
1101 Section 5 and Section 6.
1103 <item>What was Section 5.5 ("Log files") is now a subsection of the
1104 new Section 4 ("Files"), becoming section 4.8, placed after
1105 "Configuration files", moving the Section 4.8 ("Permissions
1106 and owners") to Section 4.9. All subsections of the old
1107 Section 5 after 5.5 were moved down to fill in the number
1111 <item>Modified the section about changelog files to accommodate
1112 upstream changelogs which were formatted as HTML. These
1113 upstream changelog files should now be accessible as
1114 <file>/usr/doc/package/changelog.html.gz</file>
1116 <item>Symlinks are permissible to link the real, or upstream,
1117 changelog name to the Debian mandated name.
1119 <item>Clarified that HTML documentation should be present in some
1120 package, though not necessarily the main binary package.
1122 <item>Corrected all references to the location of the copyright
1123 files. The correct location is <file>/usr/doc/package/copyright</file>
1125 <item>Ratified the architecture specification strings to cater to the
1130 <sect> Version 2.4.1.0
1132 <p> Released Apr 1998.
1134 <sect1> Policy Manual:
1136 <tag>Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic links:</tag>
1137 <item>symbolic links within a toplevel directory should be relative,
1138 symbolic links between toplevel directories should be absolute
1139 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 2)
1142 <tag>Updated section 4.9 Games:</tag>
1143 <item>manpages for games should be installed in <file>/usr/man/man6</file>
1144 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 3)
1148 <sect1> Packaging Manual:
1150 <item>Updated prefix of chapter 12, Shared Libraries:
1151 ldconfig must be called in the postinst script if the package
1152 installs shared libraries
1153 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue #6, fixes:bug#20515)
1157 <sect> Version 2.4.0.0
1159 <p> Released Jan 1998
1162 <tag>Updated section 3.3.4 Scripts:</tag>
1164 <item>/bin/sh may be any POSIX compatible shell
1165 <item>scripts including bashisms have to specify <file>/bin/bash</file>
1167 <item>scripts which create files in world-writable directories
1168 (e.g., in <file>/tmp</file>) should use tempfile or mktemp for creating
1172 <tag>Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic Links:</tag>
1173 <item>symbolic links referencing compressed files must have the same
1174 file extension as the referenced file
1177 <tag>Updated section 3.3.6 Device files:</tag>
1178 <item><file>/dev/tty*</file> serial devices should be used instead of
1179 <file>/dev/cu*</file>
1182 <tag>Updated section 3.4.2 Writing the scripts in <file>/etc/init.d</file>:
1184 <item>all <file>/etc/init.d</file> scripts have to provide the following
1185 options: start, stop, restart, force-reload
1186 <item>the reload option is optional and must never stop and restart
1190 <tag>Updated section 3.5 Cron jobs:
1191 <item>cron jobs that need to be executed more often than daily should
1192 be installed into <file>/etc/cron.d</file>
1195 <tag>Updated section 3.7 Menus:
1196 <item>removed section about how to register HTML docs to `menu'
1197 (the corresponding section in 4.4, Web servers and applications,
1198 has been removed in policy 2.2.0.0 already, so this one was
1202 <tag>New section 3.8 Keyboard configuration:
1203 <item>details about how the backspace and delete keys should be
1207 <tag>New section 3.9 Environment variables:
1208 <item>no program must depend on environment variables to get a
1209 reasonable default configuration
1212 <tag>New section 4.6 News system configuration:
1213 <item><file>/etc/news/organization</file> and <file>/etc/news/server</file>
1214 should be supported by all news servers and clients
1217 <tag>Updated section 4.7 Programs for the X Window System:
1219 <item>programs requiring a non-free Motif library should be provided
1220 as foo-smotif and foo-dmotif package
1222 <item>if lesstif works reliably for such program, it should be linked
1223 against lesstif and not against a non-free Motif library
1227 <tag>Updated section 4.9 Games:
1228 <item>games for X Windows have to be installed in <file>/usr/games</file>,
1233 <sect> Version 2.3.0.1, 2.3.0.0
1235 <p> Released Sep 1997.
1238 <item>new section `4.2 Daemons' including rules for
1239 <file>/etc/services</file>, <file>/etc/protocols</file>,
1240 <file>/etc/rpc</file>, and <file>/etc/inetd.conf</file>
1243 <item>updated section about `Configuration files':
1244 packages may not touch other packages' configuration files
1247 <item>MUAs and MTAs have to use liblockfile</item>
1250 <sect> Version 2.2.0.0
1252 <p> Released July 1997.
1255 <item>added section 4.1 `Architecture specification strings':
1258 where <arch> is one of the following:
1259 i386, alpha, arm, m68k, powerpc, sparc.
1262 <item>detailed rules for <file>/usr/local</file></item>
1264 <item>user ID's</item>
1266 <item>editor/pager policy</item>
1268 <item>cron jobs</item>
1270 <item>device files</item>
1272 <item>don't install shared libraries as executable</item>
1274 <item>app-defaults files may not be conffiles</item>
1277 <sect> Version 2.1.3.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.3.0
1279 <p> Released Mar 1997.
1282 <item>two programs with different functionality must not have the
1285 <item>"Webstandard 3.0"</item>
1287 <item>"Standard for Console Messages"</item>
1289 <item>Libraries should be compiled with `-D_REENTRANT'</item>
1291 <item>Libraries should be stripped with <prgn>strip --strip-unneeded</prgn>
1295 <sect> Version 2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.1, 2.1.2.0
1297 <p> Released Nov 1996.
1300 <item>Some changes WRT shared libraries
1303 <sect> Version 2.1.1.0
1305 <p> Released Sep 1996.
1308 <item>No hard links in source packages</item>
1310 <item>Do not use <prgn>dpkg-divert</prgn> or <prgn>update-alternatives</prgn>
1311 without consultation </item>
1313 <item>Shared libraries must be installed stripped </item>
1316 <sect> Version 2.1.0.0
1318 <p> Released Aug 1996.
1321 <item>Upstream changelog must be installed too </item>