]> git.donarmstrong.com Git - debian/debian-policy.git/blobdiff - policy.sgml
Merge branch 'master' into bug504880-rra
[debian/debian-policy.git] / policy.sgml
index c0415c132b111bffe6bcb6880e6c3cb725fe256a..a7747eca93e3def70e3ea3612d72ff02c3a6a998 100644 (file)
        </p>
 
        <p>
-         Sometimes, a package requires another package to be installed
-         <em>and</em> configured before it can be installed. In this
-         case, you must specify a <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> entry for
-         the package.
+         Sometimes, unpacking one package requires that another package
+         be first unpacked <em>and</em> configured.  In this case, the
+         dependent package must specify this dependency in
+         the <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> control field.
        </p>
 
        <p>
@@ -2218,16 +2218,16 @@ endif
        <heading>Variable substitutions: <file>debian/substvars</file></heading>
 
        <p>
-         When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>,
-         <prgn>dpkg-genchanges</prgn> and <prgn>dpkg-source</prgn>
-         generate control files, they perform variable substitutions
-         on their output just before writing it.  Variable
+         When <prgn>dpkg-gencontrol</prgn>
+         generates <qref id="binarycontrolfiles">binary package control
+         files</qref> (<file>DEBIAN/control</file>), it performs variable
+         substitutions on its output just before writing it.  Variable
          substitutions have the form <tt>${<var>variable</var>}</tt>.
          The optional file <file>debian/substvars</file> contains
          variable substitutions to be used; variables can also be set
          directly from <file>debian/rules</file> using the <tt>-V</tt>
-         option to the source packaging commands, and certain
-         predefined variables are also available.
+         option to the source packaging commands, and certain predefined
+         variables are also available.
        </p>
 
        <p>
@@ -3674,7 +3674,7 @@ Checksums-Sha256:
 
        <p>
          Broadly speaking the <prgn>preinst</prgn> is called before
-         (a particular version of) a package is installed, and the
+         (a particular version of) a package is unpacked, and the
          <prgn>postinst</prgn> afterwards; the <prgn>prerm</prgn>
          before (a version of) a package is removed and the
          <prgn>postrm</prgn> afterwards.
@@ -3758,111 +3758,173 @@ Checksums-Sha256:
        </heading>
 
        <p>
-         <list compact="compact">
-           <item>
-             <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-             <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt> <var>old-version</var>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>new-preinst</var> <tt>upgrade</tt> <var>old-version</var>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>old-preinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
-               <var>new-version</var>
-           </item>
-         </list>
+         What follows is a summary of all the ways in which maintainer
+         scripts may be called along with what facilities those scripts
+         may rely on being available at that time.  Script names preceded
+         by <var>new-</var> are the scripts from the new version of a
+         package being installed, upgraded to, or downgraded to.  Script
+         names preceded by <var>old-</var> are the scripts from the old
+         version of a package that is being upgraded from or downgraded
+         from.
+       </p>
 
        <p>
-         <list compact="compact">
-           <item>
-               <var>postinst</var> <tt>configure</tt>
-               <var>most-recently-configured-version</var>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>old-postinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
-               <var>new-version</var>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>conflictor's-postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt>
-               <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
-               <var>new-version</var>
-           </item>
+         The <prgn>preinst</prgn> script may be called in the following
+         ways:
+         <taglist>
+           <tag><var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>new-preinst</var> <tt>install</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>new-preinst</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt>
+             The package will not yet be unpacked, so
+             the <prgn>preinst</prgn> script cannot rely on any files
+             included in its package.  Only essential packages and
+             pre-dependencies (<tt>Pre-Depends</tt>) may be assumed to be
+             available.  Pre-dependencies will be at least unpacked.
+             They may be only unpacked or "Half-Configured", not
+             completely configured, but only if a previous version of the
+             pre-dependency was completely configured and the
+             pre-dependency had not been removed since then.
            </item>
+
+           <tag><var>old-preinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
+             <var>new-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>deconfigured's-postinst</var>
-               <tt>abort-deconfigure</tt> <tt>in-favour</tt>
-               <var>failed-install-package</var> <var>version</var>
-               [<tt>removing</tt> <var>conflicting-package</var>
-               <var>version</var>]
+             Called during error handling of an upgrade that failed after
+             unpacking the new package because the <tt>postrm
+             upgrade</tt> action failed.  The unpacked files may be
+             partly from the new version or partly missing, so the script
+             cannot not rely on files included in the package.  Package
+             dependencies may not be available.  Pre-dependencies will be
+             at least unpacked following the same rules as above, except
+             they may be only "Half-Installed" if an upgrade of the
+             pre-dependency failed.
            </item>
-         </list>
+         </taglist>
+       </p>
 
        <p>
-         <list compact="compact">
-           <item>
-               <var>prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>old-prerm</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
-               <var>new-version</var>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>new-prerm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
-               <var>old-version</var>
-           </item>
+         The <prgn>postinst</prgn> script may be called in the following
+         ways:
+         <taglist>
+           <tag><var>postinst</var> <tt>configure</tt>
+             <var>most-recently-configured-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>conflictor's-prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
-               <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
-               <var>new-version</var>
+             The files contained in the package will be unpacked.  All
+             package dependencies will at least be unpacked.  If there
+             are no circular dependencies involved, all package
+             dependencies will be configured.
            </item>
+
+           <tag><var>old-postinst</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
+             <var>new-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>conflictor's-postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt>
+             <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
+             <var>new-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>postinst</var> <tt>abort-remove</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>deconfigured's-postinst</var>
+             <tt>abort-deconfigure</tt> <tt>in-favour</tt>
+             <var>failed-install-package</var> <var>version</var>
+             [<tt>removing</tt> <var>conflicting-package</var>
+             <var>version</var>]</tag>
            <item>
-               <var>deconfigured's-prerm</var> <tt>deconfigure</tt>
-               <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package-being-installed</var>
-               <var>version</var> [<tt>removing</tt>
-               <var>conflicting-package</var>
-               <var>version</var>]
+             The files contained in the package will be unpacked.  All
+             package dependencies will at least be "Half-Installed" and
+             will have previously been configured and not removed.
+             However, dependencies may not be configured or even fully
+             unpacked in some error situations.<footnote>
+               For example, suppose packages foo and bar are installed
+               with foo depending on bar.  If an upgrade of bar were
+               started and then aborted, and then an attempt to remove
+               foo failed because its <prgn>prerm</prgn> script failed,
+               foo's <tt>postinst abort-remove</tt> would be called with
+               bar only "Half-Installed".
+             </footnote>
            </item>
-         </list>
+         </taglist>
+       </p>
 
        <p>
-         <list compact="compact">
-           <item>
-               <var>postrm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>postrm</var> <tt>purge</tt>
-           </item>
-           <item>
-               <var>old-postrm</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
-               <var>new-version</var>
-           </item>
+         The <prgn>prerm</prgn> script may be called in the following
+         ways:
+         <taglist>
+           <tag><var>prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>old-prerm</var>
+             <tt>upgrade</tt><var>new-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>conflictor's-prerm</var> <tt>remove</tt>
+             <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package</var>
+             <var>new-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>deconfigured's-prerm</var> <tt>deconfigure</tt>
+             <tt>in-favour</tt> <var>package-being-installed</var>
+             <var>version</var> [<tt>removing</tt>
+             <var>conflicting-package</var> <var>version</var>]</tag>
            <item>
-               <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
-               <var>old-version</var>
+             The package whose <prgn>prerm</prgn> is being called will be
+             at least "Half-Installed".  All package dependencies will at
+             least be "Half-Installed" and will have previously been
+             configured and not removed.  If there was no error, all
+             dependencies will at least be unpacked, but these actions
+             may be called in various error states where dependencies are
+             only "Half-Installed" due to a partial upgrade.
            </item>
+
+           <tag><var>new-prerm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt>
+             Called during error handling when <tt>prerm upgrade</tt>
+             fails.  The new package will not yet be unpacked, and all
+             the same constraints as for <tt>preinst upgrade</tt> apply.
            </item>
+         </taglist>
+       </p>
+
+       <p>
+         The <prgn>postrm</prgn> script may be called in the following
+         ways:
+         <taglist>
+           <tag><var>postrm</var> <tt>remove</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>postrm</var> <tt>purge</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>old-postrm</var> <tt>upgrade</tt>
+             <var>new-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>disappearer's-postrm</var> <tt>disappear</tt>
+               <var>overwriter</var> <var>overwriter-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt>
-               <var>old-version</var>
+             The <prgn>postrm</prgn> script is called after the package's
+             files have been removed or replaced.  The package
+             whose <prgn>postrm</prgn> is being called may have
+             previously been deconfigured and only be unpacked, at which
+             point subsequent package changes do not consider its
+             dependencies.  Therefore, all <prgn>postrm</prgn> actions
+             may only rely on essential packages and cannot assume that
+             the package's dependencies are available.
            </item>
+
+           <tag><var>new-postrm</var> <tt>failed-upgrade</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
-               <var>old-version</var>
+             Called when the old <tt>postrm upgrade</tt> action fails.
+             The new package will be unpacked, but only essential
+             packages and pre-dependencies can be relied on.
+             Pre-dependencies will either be configured or will be
+             "Unpacked" or "Half-Configured" but previously had been
+             configured and was never removed.
            </item>
+
+           <tag><var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt></tag>
+           <tag><var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-install</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
+           <tag><var>new-postrm</var> <tt>abort-upgrade</tt>
+             <var>old-version</var></tag>
            <item>
-               <var>disappearer's-postrm</var> <tt>disappear</tt>
-               <var>overwriter</var>
-               <var>overwriter-version</var>
+             Called before unpackaging the new package as part of the
+             error handling of <prgn>preinst</prgn> failures.  May assume
+             the same state as <prgn>preinst</prgn> can assume.
            </item>
-         </list>
+         </taglist>
        </p>
-
+      </sect>
 
       <sect id="unpackphase">
        <heading>Details of unpack phase of installation or upgrade</heading>
@@ -4064,7 +4126,7 @@ Checksums-Sha256:
                behavior which, though deterministic, is hard for the
                system administrator to understand.  It can easily
                lead to "missing" programs if, for example, a package
-               is installed which overwrites a file from another
+               is unpacked which overwrites a file from another
                package, and is then removed again.<footnote>
                    Part of the problem is due to what is arguably a
                    bug in <prgn>dpkg</prgn>.
@@ -4200,7 +4262,7 @@ Checksums-Sha256:
                If there was a conflicting package we go and do the
                removal actions (described below), starting with the
                removal of the conflicting package's files (any that
-               are also in the package being installed have already
+               are also in the package being unpacked have already
                been removed from the conflicting package's file list,
                and so do not get removed now).
            </item>
@@ -4540,31 +4602,31 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
        </p>
 
        <p>
-         For this reason packages in an installation run are usually
-         all unpacked first and all configured later; this gives
-         later versions of packages with dependencies on later
-         versions of other packages the opportunity to have their
-         dependencies satisfied.
+         Since <tt>Depends</tt> only places requirements on the order in
+         which packages are configured, packages in an installation run
+         are usually all unpacked first and all configured later.  This
+         allows multiple packages to be upgraded in one unpack and
+         configure step even if some packages being upgraded have
+         versioned dependencies on the upgraded versions of other
+         packages involved in the installation run.
        </p>
 
-        <p>
-          In case of circular dependencies, since installation or
-          removal order honoring the dependency order can't be
-          established, dependency loops are broken at some point
-          (based on rules below), and some packages may not be able to
-          rely on their dependencies being present when being
-          installed or removed, depending on which side of the break
-          of the circular dependency loop they happen to be on.  If one
-          of the packages in the loop has no postinst script, then the
-          cycle will be broken at that package, so as to ensure that
-          all postinst scripts run with the dependencies properly
-          configured if this is possible. Otherwise the breaking point
-          is arbitrary.
-        </p>
-
        <p>
-         The <tt>Depends</tt> field thus allows package maintainers
-         to impose an order in which packages should be configured.
+         If there is a circular dependency among packages being installed
+         or removed, installation or removal order honoring the
+         dependency order is impossible, requiring the dependency loop be
+         broken at some point and the dependency requirements violated
+         for at least one package.  Packages involved in circular
+         dependencies may not be able to rely on their dependencies being
+         configured when being configured depending on which side of the
+         break of the circular dependency loop they happen to be on.  If
+         one of the packages in the loop has no <prgn>postinst</prgn>
+         script, then the cycle will be broken at that package; this
+         ensures that all <prgn>postinst</prgn> scripts are run with
+         their dependencies properly configured if this is possible.
+         Otherwise the breaking point is arbitrary.  Packages should
+         therefore avoid circular dependencies where possible,
+         particularly if they have <prgn>postinst</prgn> scripts.
        </p>
 
        <p>
@@ -4576,7 +4638,8 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
                This declares an absolute dependency.  A package will
                not be configured unless all of the packages listed in
                its <tt>Depends</tt> field have been correctly
-               configured.
+               configured (unless there is a circular dependency as
+               described above).
              </p>
 
              <p>
@@ -4588,12 +4651,17 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
 
              <p>
                The <tt>Depends</tt> field should also be used if the
-               <prgn>postinst</prgn>, <prgn>prerm</prgn> or
-               <prgn>postrm</prgn> scripts require the package to be
-               present in order to run.  Note, however, that the
-               <prgn>postrm</prgn> cannot rely on any non-essential
-               packages to be present during the <tt>purge</tt>
-               phase.
+               <prgn>postinst</prgn> or <prgn>prerm</prgn> scripts
+               require the depended-on package to be unpacked or
+               configured in order to run.  In the case of <tt>postinst
+               configure</tt>, the depended-on packages will be unpacked
+               and configured first.  (If both packages are involved in a
+               dependency loop, this might not work as expected; see the
+               explanation a few paragraphs back.)  In the case
+               of <prgn>prerm</prgn> or other <prgn>postinst</prgn>
+               actions, the package dependencies will be at least
+               unpacked or "Half-Installed".
+             </p>
            </item>
 
            <tag><tt>Recommends</tt></tag>
@@ -4652,11 +4720,21 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
              </p>
 
              <p>
-               When the package declaring a pre-dependency is about
-               to be <em>configured</em>, the pre-dependency will be
-               treated as a normal <tt>Depends</tt>, that is, it will
-               be considered satisfied only if the depended-on
-               package has been correctly configured.
+               When the package declaring a pre-dependency is about to
+               be <em>configured</em>, the pre-dependency will be treated
+               as a normal <tt>Depends</tt>.  It will be considered
+               satisfied only if the depended-on package has been
+               correctly configured.  However, unlike
+               with <tt>Depends</tt>, <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> does not
+               permit circular dependencies to be broken.  If a circular
+               dependency is encountered while attempting to honor
+               <tt>Pre-Depends</tt>, the installation will be aborted.
+             </p>
+
+             <p>
+               <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> are also required if the
+               <prgn>preinst</prgn> script depends on the named package.
+               It is best to avoid this situation if possible.
              </p>
 
              <p>
@@ -4665,13 +4743,6 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
                installation would hamper the ability of the system to
                continue with any upgrade that might be in progress.
              </p>
-
-             <p>
-               <tt>Pre-Depends</tt> are also required if the
-               <prgn>preinst</prgn> script depends on the named
-               package.  It is best to avoid this situation if
-               possible.
-             </p>
            </item>
          </taglist>
        </p>
@@ -4696,7 +4767,7 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
        <p>
          When one binary package declares that it breaks another,
          <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will refuse to allow the package which
-         declares <tt>Breaks</tt> be installed unless the broken
+         declares <tt>Breaks</tt> be unpacked unless the broken
          package is deconfigured first, and it will refuse to
          allow the broken package to be reconfigured.
        </p>
@@ -4747,18 +4818,18 @@ Build-Depends: foo [linux-any], bar [any-i386], baz [!linux-any]
        <heading>Conflicting binary packages - <tt>Conflicts</tt></heading>
 
        <p>
-          When one binary package declares a conflict with another
-         using a <tt>Conflicts</tt> field, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will
-         refuse to allow them to be installed on the system at the
-         same time.  This is a stronger restriction than <tt>Breaks</tt>,
-         which just prevents both packages from being configured at the
-         same time.  Conflicting packages cannot be unpacked on the
-         system at the same time.
+          When one binary package declares a conflict with another using
+         a <tt>Conflicts</tt> field, <prgn>dpkg</prgn> will refuse to
+         allow them to be unpacked on the system at the same time.  This
+         is a stronger restriction than <tt>Breaks</tt>, which only
+         prevents both packages from being configured at the same time.
+         Conflicting packages cannot be unpacked on the system at the
+         same time.
        </p>
 
        <p>
-         If one package is to be installed, the other must be removed
-         first.  If the package being installed is marked as replacing
+         If one package is to be unpacked, the other must be removed
+         first.  If the package being unpacked is marked as replacing
          (see <ref id="replaces">, but note that <tt>Breaks</tt> should
          normally be used in this case) the one on the system, or the one
          on the system is marked as deselected, or both packages are
@@ -5039,7 +5110,7 @@ Provides: mail-transport-agent
 Conflicts: mail-transport-agent
 Replaces: mail-transport-agent
            </example>
-           ensuring that only one MTA can be installed at any one
+           ensuring that only one MTA can be unpacked at any one
            time.  See <ref id="virtual"> for more information about this
            example.
        </sect1>
@@ -5124,55 +5195,134 @@ Replaces: mail-transport-agent
       </p>
 
       <p>
-       Packages involving shared libraries should be split up into
-       several binary packages. This section mostly deals with how
-       this separation is to be accomplished; rules for files within
-       the shared library packages are in <ref id="libraries"> instead.
+       This section deals only with public shared libraries: shared
+       libraries that are placed in directories searched by the dynamic
+       linker by default or which are intended to be linked against
+       normally and possibly used by other, independent packages.  Shared
+       libraries that are internal to a particular package or that are
+       only loaded as dynamic modules are not covered by this section and
+       are not subject to its requirements.
       </p>
 
-      <sect id="sharedlibs-runtime">
-       <heading>Run-time shared libraries</heading>
+      <p>
+       A shared library is identified by the <tt>SONAME</tt> attribute
+       stored in its dynamic section.  When a binary is linked against a
+       shared library, the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the shared library is
+       recorded in the binary's <tt>NEEDED</tt> section so that the
+       dynamic linker knows that library must be loaded at runtime.  The
+       shared library file's full name (which usually contains additional
+       version information not needed in the <tt>SONAME</tt>) is
+       therefore normally not referenced directly.  Instead, the shared
+       library is loaded by its <tt>SONAME</tt>, which exists on the file
+       system as a symlink pointing to the full name of the shared
+       library.  This symlink must be provided by the
+       package.  <ref id="sharedlibs-runtime"> describes how to do this.
+       <footnote>
+         This is a convention of shared library versioning, but not a
+         requirement.  Some libraries use the <tt>SONAME</tt> as the full
+         library file name instead and therefore do not need a symlink.
+         Most, however, encode additional information about
+         backwards-compatible revisions as a minor version number in the
+         file name.  The <tt>SONAME</tt> itself only changes when
+         binaries linked with the earlier version of the shared library
+         may no longer work, but the filename may change with each
+         release of the library.  See <ref id="sharedlibs-runtime"> for
+         more information.
+       </footnote>
+      </p>
 
       <p>
-       The run-time shared library needs to be placed in a package
-        whose name changes whenever the shared object version
-        changes.<footnote>
-            <p>
-              Since it is common place to install several versions of a
-              package that just provides shared libraries, it is a
-              good idea that the library package should not
-              contain any extraneous non-versioned files, unless they
-              happen to be in versioned directories.</p>
-          </footnote>
-          The most common mechanism is to place it in a package
-        called
-        <package><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></package>,
-        where <file><var>soversion</var></file> is the version number
-        in the soname of the shared library<footnote>
-             The soname is the shared object name: it's the thing
-             that has to match exactly between building an executable
-             and running it for the dynamic linker to be able run the
-             program.  For example, if the soname of the library is
-             <file>libfoo.so.6</file>, the library package would be
-             called <file>libfoo6</file>.
-         </footnote>.
-       Alternatively, if it would be confusing to directly append
-       <var>soversion</var> to <var>libraryname</var> (e.g. because
-       <var>libraryname</var> itself ends in a number), you may use
-       <package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var></package> and
-       <package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var>-dev</package>
-       instead.
+       When linking a binary or another shared library against a shared
+       library, the <tt>SONAME</tt> for that shared library is not yet
+       known.  Instead, the shared library is found by looking for a file
+       matching the library name with <tt>.so</tt> appended.  This file
+       exists on the file system as a symlink pointing to the shared
+       library.
       </p>
 
       <p>
-       If you have several shared libraries built from the same
-       source tree you may lump them all together into a single
-       shared library package, provided that you change all of
-       their sonames at once (so that you don't get filename
-       clashes if you try to install different versions of the
-       combined shared libraries package).
+       Shared libraries are normally split into several binary packages.
+       The <tt>SONAME</tt> symlink is installed by the runtime shared
+       library package, and the bare <tt>.so</tt> symlink is installed in
+       the development package since it's only used when linking binaries
+       or shared libraries.  However, there are some exceptions for
+       unusual shared libraries or for shared libraries that are also
+       loaded as dynamic modules by other programs.
       </p>
 
+      <p>
+       This section is primarily concerned with how the separation of
+       shared libraries into multiple packages should be done and how
+       dependencies on and between shared library binary packages are
+       managed in Debian.  <ref id="libraries"> should be read in
+       conjunction with this section and contains additional rules for
+       the files contained in the shared library packages.
+      </p>
+
+      <sect id="sharedlibs-runtime">
+       <heading>Run-time shared libraries</heading>
+
+       <p>
+         The run-time shared library must be placed in a package
+         whose name changes whenever the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the shared
+         library changes.  This allows several versions of the shared
+         library to be installed at the same time, allowing installation
+         of the new version of the shared library without immediately
+         breaking binaries that depend on the old version.  Normally, the
+         run-time shared library and its <tt>SONAME</tt> symlink should
+         be placed in a package named
+         <package><var>libraryname</var><var>soversion</var></package>,
+         where <var>soversion</var> is the version number in
+         the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the shared library.
+         See <ref id="shlibs"> for detailed information on how to
+         determine this version.  Alternatively, if it would be confusing
+         to directly append <var>soversion</var>
+         to <var>libraryname</var> (if, for example, <var>libraryname</var>
+         itself ends in a number), you should use
+         <package><var>libraryname</var>-<var>soversion</var></package>
+         instead.
+       </p>
+
+       <p>
+         If you have several shared libraries built from the same source
+         tree, you may lump them all together into a single shared
+         library package provided that all of their <tt>SONAME</tt>s will
+         always change together.  Be aware that this is not normally the
+         case, and if the <tt>SONAME</tt>s do not change together,
+         upgrading such a merged shared library package will be
+         unnecessarily difficult because of file conflicts with the old
+         version of the package.  When in doubt, always split shared
+         library packages so that each binary package installs a single
+         shared library.
+       </p>
+
+       <p>
+         Every time the shared library ABI changes in a way that may
+         break binaries linked against older versions of the shared
+         library, the <tt>SONAME</tt> of the library and the
+         corresponding name for the binary package containing the runtime
+         shared library should change.  Normally, this means
+         the <tt>SONAME</tt> should change any time an interface is
+         removed from the shared library or the signature of an interface
+         (the number of parameters or the types of parameters that it
+         takes, for example) is changed.  This practice is vital to
+         allowing clean upgrades from older versions of the package and
+         clean transitions between the old ABI and new ABI without having
+         to upgrade every affected package simultaneously.
+       </p>
+
+       <p>
+         The <tt>SONAME</tt> and binary package name need not, and indeed
+         normally should not, change if new interfaces are added but none
+         are removed or changed, since this will not break binaries
+         linked against the old shared library.  Correct versioning of
+         dependencies on the newer shared library by binaries that use
+         the new interfaces is handled via
+         the <qref id="sharedlibs-shlibdeps"><tt>shlibs</tt>
+         system</qref> or via symbols files (see
+         <manref name="deb-symbols" section="5">).
+       </p>
+
       <p>
        The package should install the shared libraries under
        their normal names.  For example, the <package>libgdbm3</package>
@@ -5192,10 +5342,11 @@ Replaces: mail-transport-agent
       </p>
 
       <p>
-       The run-time library package should include the symbolic link that
-       <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> would create for the shared libraries.
-       For example, the <package>libgdbm3</package> package should include
-       a symbolic link from <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.3</file> to
+       The run-time library package should include the symbolic link for
+       the <tt>SONAME</tt> that <prgn>ldconfig</prgn> would create for
+       the shared libraries.  For example,
+       the <package>libgdbm3</package> package should include a symbolic
+       link from <file>/usr/lib/libgdbm.so.3</file> to
        <file>libgdbm.so.3.0.0</file>.  This is needed so that the dynamic
        linker (for example <prgn>ld.so</prgn> or
        <prgn>ld-linux.so.*</prgn>) can find the library between the
@@ -5258,7 +5409,7 @@ Replaces: mail-transport-agent
          <footnote>
            <p>
              During install or upgrade, the preinst is called before
-             the new files are installed, so calling "ldconfig" is
+             the new files are unpacked, so calling "ldconfig" is
              pointless.  The preinst of an existing package can also be
              called if an upgrade fails.  However, this happens during
              the critical time when a shared libs may exist on-disk
@@ -5403,7 +5554,7 @@ Replaces: mail-transport-agent
        <ref id="conflicts">) to ensure that the user only installs one
        development version at a time (as different development versions are
        likely to have the same header files in them, which would cause a
-       filename clash if both were installed).
+       filename clash if both were unpacked).
       </p>
 
       <p>
@@ -5415,6 +5566,14 @@ Replaces: mail-transport-agent
        (<prgn>ld</prgn>) when compiling packages, as it will only look for
        <file>libgdbm.so</file> when compiling dynamically.
       </p>
+
+      <p>
+       If the package provides Ada Library Information
+       (<file>*.ali</file>) files for use with GNAT, these files must be
+       installed read-only (mode 0444) so that GNAT will not attempt to
+       recompile them.  This overrides the normal file mode requirements
+       given in <ref id="permissions-owners">.
+      </p>
       </sect>
 
       <sect id="sharedlibs-intradeps">
@@ -7973,7 +8132,7 @@ endscript
        </p>
       </sect>
 
-      <sect>
+      <sect id="permissions-owners">
        <heading>Permissions and owners</heading>
 
        <p>
@@ -9694,7 +9853,7 @@ END-INFO-DIR-ENTRY
        <p>
          The <prgn>DEBIAN</prgn> directory will not appear in the
          file system archive of the package, and so won't be installed
-         by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when the package is installed.
+         by <prgn>dpkg</prgn> when the package is unpacked.
        </p>
 
        <p>