stop trying to handle substvars idempotently

[debhelper.git] / doc / PROGRAMMING

diff --git a/doc/PROGRAMMING b/doc/PROGRAMMING
index 0fca4722019a3efb6c9285ab5686b0f02c2b02e4..ca76b9c9bf346dd8a40b46aefdfb295139e3b572 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/PROGRAMMING
+++ b/doc/PROGRAMMING
@@ -216,9 +216,10 @@ addsubstvar($package, $substvar, $deppackage, $verinfo, $remove)
        - version info for the package (optional) (ie: ">= 1.1")
        - if this last parameter is passed, the thing that would be added
          is removed instead. This can be useful to ensure that a debhelper
-         command is idempotent. Note that without this parameter, if you
-         call the function twice with the same values it will only add one
-         item to the substvars file.
+         command is idempotent. (However, we generally don't bother,
+         and rely on the user calling dh_prep.) Note that without this
+         parameter, if you call the function twice with the same values it
+         will only add one item to the substvars file.
 delsubstvar($package, $substvar)
        This function removes the entire line for the substvar from the
        package's shlibs file.