Created On : Thu Oct 29 20:54:48 1998
Created On Node : tiamat.datasync.com
Last Modified By : Manoj Srivastava
- Last Modified On : Fri Mar 21 13:22:56 2003
- Last Machine Used: glaurung.green-gryphon.com
- Update Count : 32
+ Last Modified On : Sat Jun 18 00:16:40 2005
+ Last Machine Used: glaurung.internal.golden-gryphon.com
+ Update Count : 51
Status : Unknown, Use with caution!
HISTORY :
Description :
<h2>The checklist</h2>
<pre>
-?.?.?.? ??? 0?
+3.7.4.0 unreleased
+
+ * The base section has been removed. contrib and non-free have been
+ removed from the section list; they are only categories. The base
+ system is now defined by priority. [2.4, 3.7]
+ * If dpkg-source -x doesn't provide the source that will be compiled,
+ a debian/rules patch target is recommended and should do whatever
+ else is necessary. [4.9]
+ * Standardized the format of DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS. Specified permitted
+ characters for tags, required that tags be whitespace-separated,
+ allowed packages to assume non-conflicting tags, and required
+ unknown flags be ignored. [4.9.1, 10.1]
+ * Added parallel=n to the standardized DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS tags,
+ indicating that a package should be built using up to n parallel
+ processes if the package supports it [4.9.1]
+ * Debian packages should not use convience copies of code from other
+ packages unless the included package is explicitly intended to be
+ used that way. [4.13]
+ * If dpkg-source -x doesn't produce source ready for editing and
+ building with dpkg-buildpackage, packages should include a
+ debian/README.source file explaining how to generate the patched
+ source, add a new modification, and remove an existing
+ modification. This file may also be used to document packaging a
+ new upstream release and any other complexity of the Debian build
+ process. [4.14]
+ * The Uploaders field in debian/control may be wrapped. [5.6.3]
+ * New Homepage field for upstream web sites. [5.6.23]
+ * The Breaks field declares that this package breaks another and
+ prevents installation of the breaking package unless the package
+ named in Breaks is deconfigured first. This field should not be
+ used until the dpkg in Debian stable supports it. [6.5, 6.6, 7]
+ * Files in /etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly} must be
+ configuration files (upgraded from should). Mention the hourly
+ directory. [9.5]
+ * Manual pages in locale-specific directories should use either the
+ legacy encoding for that directory or UTF-8. Country names should
+ not be included in locale-specific manual page directories unless
+ indicating a significant difference in the language. All
+ characters in the manual page source should be representable in the
+ legacy encoding for a locale even if the man page is encoded in
+ UTF-8. [12.1]
+ * The Apache 2.0 license is now in common-licenses and should be
+ referenced rather than quoted in debian/copyright. [12.5]
+ * Packages in contrib and non-free should state in the copyright file
+ that the package is not part of Debian GNU/Linux and briefly
+ explain why. [12.5]
+
+3.7.3.0 Dec 2007
+
+ * Package version numbers may contain tildes, which sort before
+ anything, even the end of a part. [5.6.12]
+ * Scripts may assume that /bin/sh supports local (at a basic level)
+ and that its test builtin (if any) supports -a and -o binary
+ logical operators. [10.4]
+ * The substitution variable ${binary:Version} should be used in place
+ of ${Source-Version} for dependencies between packages of the same
+ library. [8.5]
+ * Substantial reorganization and renaming of sections in the Debian
+ menu structure. Packages with menu entries should be reviewed to
+ see if the menu section has been renamed or if one of the new
+ sections would be more appropriate. [menu policy]
+ * The Source field in a .changes file may contain a version number
+ in parentheses. [5.6.1]
+ * The acceptable values for the Urgency field are low, medium, high,
+ critical, or emergency. [5.6.17]
+ * The shlibs file now allows an optional type field, indicating the
+ type of package for which the line is valid. The only currently
+ supported type is udeb, used with packages for the Debian
+ Installer. [8.6]
+ * Packages following the Debian Configuration management
+ specification must allow for translation of their messages by using
+ a gettext-based system such as po-debconf. [3.9.1]
+ * GFDL 1.2, GPL 3, and LGPL 3 are now in common-licenses and should
+ be referenced rather than quoted in debian/copyright. [12.5]
+
+3.7.2.2 Oct 2006
+
+ * Maintainer scripts must not be world writeable (up from a
+ should to a must) [6.1]
+
+3.7.2.0 Apr 2006
+
+ * Revert the cgi-lib change. [11.5]
+
+3.7.1.0 Apr 2006
+
+ * It is now possible to create shared libraries without
+ relocatable code (using -fPIC) in certain exceptional cases,
+ provided some procedures are followed, and for creating static
+ libraries with relocatable code (again, using -fPIC).
+ Discussion on debian-devel@lists.debian.org, getting a rough
+ consensus, and documenting it in README.Debian constitute most
+ of the process. [10.2]
+ * Packages should install any relevant files into the directories
+ /usr/include/X11/and /usr/lib/X11/, but if they do so, they
+ must pre-depend on x11-common (>= 1:7.0.0) [11.8.7]
+
+3.7.0.0 Apr 2006
+
+ * Packages shipping web server CGI files are expected to install
+ them in /usr/lib/cgi-lib/ directories. This location change
+ perhaps should be documented in NEWS [11.5]
+ * Web server packages should include a standard scriptAlias of
+ cgi-lib to /usr/lib/cgi-lib. [11.5]
+ * The version of FHS mandated by policy has been upped to
+ 2.3. There should be no changes required for most packages,
+ though new top level directories /media, /srv, etc may be of
+ interest. [9.1.1]
+ * All fields, apart from the Uploaders field, in the control file
+ are supposed to be a single logical line, which may be spread
+ over multiple physical lines (newline followed by space is
+ elided). However, any parser for the control file must allow
+ the Uploaders field to be spread over multiple physical lines
+ as well, to prepare for future changes. [ 5.1, 5.6.3 ]
+ * When scripts are installed into a directory in the system
+ PATH, the script name should not include an extension that
+ denotes the scripting language currently used to implement it.
+ [ 10.4 ]
+ * packages that invoke initscripts now must use invoke-rc.d to do
+ so since it also pays attention to run levels and other local
+ constraints. [ 9.3.3.2 ]
+ * We no longer use /usr/X11R6, since we have migrated away to
+ using Xorg paths. This means, for one thing, fonts live in
+ /usr/share/fonts/X11/ now, and /usr/X11R6 is gone.
+ [ 11.8.5.2, 11.8.7, etc]
+
+3.6.2.0 2005
+
+ * Recommend doc-base, and not menu, for registering package documentation.
+ * Run time support programs should live in subdirectories of
+ /usr/lib/ or /usr/share, and preferably the shared lib is named
+ the same as the package name (to avoid name collisions). [8.1]
+ * It is recommended that HTTP servers provide an alias /images to
+ allow packages to share image files with the web server [11.5]
+
+3.6.1.0 Aug 2003
+
+ + Prompting the user should be done using debconf. Non debconf
+ user prompts are now deprecated. [3.10.1]
+
+3.6.0 Jul 2003
+
+ - Restructuring causing shifts in section numbers and bumping of
+ the minor version number:
+ + Many packaging manual appendices that were integrated into policy
+ sections are now empty, and replaced with links to the Policy.
+ In particular, the appendices that included the list of control
+ fields were updated (new fields like Closes, Changed-By were added)
+ and the list of fields for each of control, .changes and .dsc files
+ is now in Policy, and they're marked mandatory, recommended or
+ optional based on the current practice and the behavior of the
+ deb-building tool-chain.
+ + Elimination of needlessly deep section levels, primarily in the
+ chapter Debian Archive, from which two new chapters were split out,
+ Binary packages and Source packages. What remained was reordered
+ properly, that is, some sect1s became sects etc.
+ + Several sections that were redundant, crufty or simply not designed
+ with any sort of vision, were rearranged according to the formula that
+ everything should be either in the same place or properly interlinked.
+ Some things remained split up between different chapters when they
+ talked about different aspects of files: their content, their syntax,
+ and their placement in the file system. In particular, see the new
+ sections about changelog files.
+ - Added Games/Simulation and Apps/Education to menu sub-policy
+ [menu policy]
+ - Debian changelogs should be UTF-8 encoded. [C.2.2]
+ - shared libraries must be linked against all libraries that they
+ use symbols from in the same way that binaries are. [10.2]
+ - build-depends-indep need not be satisfied during clean
+ target. [7.6]
+
+3.5.10 May 2003
- packages providing the x-terminal-emulator virtual package
ought to ensure that they interpret the command line exactly
- like xterm does. [??.?]
+ like xterm does. [11.8.3]
- Window managers compliant with the Window Manager Specification
- Project may add 40 points (for ranking in the alternatives) [??.?]
+ Project may add 40 points for ranking in the alternatives [11.8.4]
-
-3.5.9.0 Mar 03
+3.5.9.0 Mar 2003
- The section describing the Description: package field once again has
- full details of the long description format. [5.7.2]
+ full details of the long description format. [3.4.2]
- Clarified that if a package has non-build-essential
build-dependencies, it should have them listed in the Build-Depends
- and related fields (i.e. it's not merely optional). [2.4.2]
+ and related fields (i.e. it's not merely optional). [4.2]
- When asked to restart a service that isn't already running,
- the init script should start the service. [10.3.2]
+ the init script should start the service. [9.3.2]
- If the purpose of a package is to provide examples, then the
example files can be installed into <tt>/usr/share/doc/package</tt>
- (rather than <tt>/usr/share/doc/package/examples</tt>). [13.6]
-
+ (rather than <tt>/usr/share/doc/package/examples</tt>). [12.6]
-3.5.8.0 Nov 02
+3.5.8.0 Nov 2002
- It is no longer necessary to keep a log of changes to the upstream
sources in the copyright file. Instead, all such changes should be
- documented in the changelog file. [13.7]
+ documented in the changelog file. [12.7]
- <tt>Build-Depends</tt>, <tt>Build-Conflicts</tt>,
<tt>Build-Depends-Indep</tt>, and
<tt>Build-Conflicts-Indep</tt> must also be satisfied when the
clean target is called. [7.6]
- - A new apps/Science menu section is available [menu policy]
+ - A new Apps/Science menu section is available [menu policy]
- debconf specification cleared up, various changes. [debconf
policy]
- It is no longer recommended to create symlinks from nonexistent
manual pages to undocumented(7). Missing manual pages for programs
- are still a bug. [13.1]
+ are still a bug. [12.1]
-3.5.7.0 Aug 02
+3.5.7.0 Aug 2002
- Packages no longer have to ask permission to call MAKEDEV in
- postinst, merely notifying the user ought to be enough. [11.6]
+ postinst, merely notifying the user ought to be enough. [10.6]
- cryptographic software may now be included in the main
- archive. [2.1.5]
+ archive. [2.2.4]
- task packages are no longer permitted; tasks are now created by a
- special Tasks: field in the control file. [2.3.8]
+ special Tasks: field in the control file. [3.9]
- window managers that support netwm can now add 20 points when
they add themselves as an alternative for
- /usr/bin/x-window-manager [12.8.4]
+ /usr/bin/x-window-manager [11.8.4]
- The default compilation options have now changed, one should
provide debugging symbols in all cases, and optionally step
back optimization to -O0, depending on the DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS
- environment variable. [11.1]
+ environment variable. [10.1]
- Added mention of build-arch, build-indep, etc, in describing
the relationships with `Build-Depends', `Build-Conflicts',
`Build-Depends-Indep', and `Build-Conflicts-Indep'. May need to
- review the new rules. [7.6, 5.2]
+ review the new rules. [7.6, 4.8]
- Changed rules on how, and when, to invoke ldconfig in maintainer
- scripts. Long rationale. [9]
+ scripts. Long rationale. [8]
- [Added the last note in 3.5.6 upgrading checklist item regarding
build rules, please see below]
-3.5.6.0 Jul 01
+3.5.6.0 Jul 2001
- Emacs and TeX are no longer mandated by policy to be priority
- standard packages [2.2]
+ standard packages [2.5]
- Programs that access docs need to do so via /usr/share/doc, and
- not via /usr/doc/ as was the policy previously [12.5]
+ not via /usr/doc/ as was the policy previously [11.5]
- Putting documentation in /usr/doc versus /usr/share/doc is now
- a ``serious'' policy violation. [13.3]
+ a ``serious'' policy violation. [12.3]
- For web servers, one should not provide non-local access to the
/usr/share/doc hierarchy. If one can't provide access controls for
the http://localhost/doc/ directory, then it is preferred that one
- ask permission to expose that information during the install. [12.5]
+ ask permission to expose that information during the install. [11.5]
- There are new rules for build-indep/build-arch targets and
there is a new Build-Depend-Indep semantic. [7]
-
-3.5.5.0 May 01
+3.5.5.0 May 2001
- Manpages should not rely on header information to have
alternative manpage names available; it should only use
- symlinks or .so pages to do this [13.1]
+ symlinks or .so pages to do this [12.1]
- [Clarified note in 3.5.3.0 upgrading checklist regarding
examples and templates: this refers only to those examples used
- by scripts; see section 11.7.3 for the whole story]
- - Included a new section 11.9.1 describing the use of
+ by scripts; see section 10.7.3 for the whole story]
+ - Included a new section 10.9.1 describing the use of
dpkg-statoverride; this does not have the weight of policy
- Clarify Standards-Version: you don't need to rebuild your
packages just to change the Standards-Version!
- Plugins are no longer bound by all the rules of shared
- libraries [11.2]
+ libraries [10.2]
- X Windows related things:
* Clarification of priority levels of X Window System related
- packages [12.8.1]
- * Rules for defining x-terminal-emulator improved [12.8.3]
+ packages [11.8.1]
+ * Rules for defining x-terminal-emulator improved [11.8.3]
* X Font policy rewritten: you must read this if you provide
- fonts for the X Window System [12.8.5]
- * Packages must not ship /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/ [12.8.6]
+ fonts for the X Window System [11.8.5]
+ * Packages must not ship /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/ [11.8.6]
* X-related packages should usually use the regular FHS
- locations; imake-using packages are exempted from this [12.8.7]
+ locations; imake-using packages are exempted from this [11.8.7]
* OpenMotif linked binaries have the same rules as
- OSF/Motif-linked ones [12.8.8]
+ OSF/Motif-linked ones [11.8.8]
-
-3.5.4.0 Apr 01
+3.5.4.0 Apr 2001
- The system-wide mail directory is now /var/mail, no longer
/var/spool/mail. Any packages accessing the mail spool should
access it via /var/mail and include a suitable Depends field;
- details in [12.6]
+ details in [11.6]
- The perl policy is now part of Debian policy proper. Perl
programs and modules should follow the current Perl policy
- [12.9; perl-policy]
-
+ [11.9; perl-policy]
-3.5.3.0 Apr 01
+3.5.3.0 Apr 2001
- Build-Depends arch syntax has been changed to be less
ambiguous. This should not affect any current packages [7.1]
- Examples and templates files for use by scripts should now live
in /usr/share/<package> or /usr/lib/<package>, with
symbolic links from /usr/share/doc/<package>/examples as
- needed [11.7.3]
+ needed [10.7.3]
-
-3.5.2.0 Feb 01
+3.5.2.0 Feb 2001
- X app-defaults directory has moved from
- /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults to /etc/X11/app-defaults [12.8.6]
-
+ /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults to /etc/X11/app-defaults [11.8.6]
-3.5.1.0 Feb 01
+3.5.1.0 Feb 2001
- dpkg-shlibdeps now uses objdump, so shared libraries have to be
- run through dpkg-shlibdeps as well as executables [9.1]
+ run through dpkg-shlibdeps as well as executables [8.1]
-
-3.5.0.0 Jan 01
+3.5.0.0 Jan 2001
- Font packages for the X Window System must now declare a
- dependency on xutils (>= 4.0.2) [12.8.5]
-
+ dependency on xutils (>= 4.0.2) [11.8.5]
-3.2.1.1 Jan 01
+3.2.1.1 Jan 2001
- Daemon startup scripts in /etc/init.d/ should not contain
modifiable parameters; these should be moved to a file in
- /etc/default/; see [10.3.2] for details
+ /etc/default/; see [9.3.2] for details
- Files in /usr/share/doc must not be referenced by any
program. If such files are needed, they must be placed in
/usr/share/<package>/, and symbolic links created as required
- in /usr/share/doc/<package>/ [13.3]
+ in /usr/share/doc/<package>/ [12.3]
- Much of the packaging manual has now been imported into the
policy document
-
3.2.1.0 Aug 00
- A package of priority standard or higher may provide two
binaries, one compiled with support for the X Window System,
- and the other without [12.8.1]
-
+ and the other without [11.8.1]
3.2.0.0 Aug 00
- By default executables should not be built with the debugging
option -g. Instead, it is recommended to support building the
- package with debugging information optionally. Details in [11.1]
+ package with debugging information optionally. Details in [10.1]
- Policy for packages where the upstream uses HTML changelog
files has been expanded. In short, a plain text changelog file
- should always be generated for the upstream changes [13.8]
- - Please note that the new release of the X window system (4.x)
+ should always be generated for the upstream changes [12.8]
+ - Please note that the new release of the X window system (3.2)
shall probably need sweeping changes in policy
- Policy for packages providing the following X-based features
has been codified:
- - X server (virtual package xserver) [12.8.2]
- - X terminal emulator (virtual package x-terminal-emulator) [12.8.3]
+ - X server (virtual package xserver) [11.8.2]
+ - X terminal emulator (virtual package x-terminal-emulator) [11.8.3]
- X window manager (virtual package x-window-manager, and
/usr/bin/x-window-manager alternative, with priority
- calculation guidelines) [12.8.4]
+ calculation guidelines) [11.8.4]
- X fonts (this section has been written from scratch) [12.8.5]
- - X application defaults [12.8.6]
+ - X application defaults [11.8.6]
- Policy for packages using the X Window System and FHS issues
- has been clarified; see [12.8.7]
+ has been clarified; see [11.8.7]
- No package may contain or make hard links to conffiles [11.7.3]
- Noted that newer dpkg versions do not require extreme care in
always creating the shared lib before the symlink, so the unpack
- order be correct [9]
+ order be correct [8]
-
-3.1.1.0 Nov 99
+3.1.1.0 Nov 1999
- Correction to semantics of architecture lists in Build-Depends
etc. Should not affect many packages [7.1]
-
-3.1.0.0 Oct 99
+3.1.0.0 Oct 1999
- /usr/doc/<package> has to be a symlink pointing to
/usr/share/doc/<package>, to be maintained by postinst
- and prerm scripts. Details are in [13.4]
+ and prerm scripts. Details are in [defunct]
- Introduced source dependencies (Build-Depends, etc.) [7.1, 7.6]
- /etc/rc.boot has been deprecated in favour of /etc/rcS.d.
(Packages should not be touching this directory, but should use
- update-rc.d instead) [10.3.4]
+ update-rc.d instead) [9.3.4]
- update-rc.d is now the *only* allowable way of accessing the
/etc/rc?.d/[SK]??* links. Any scripts which manipulate them
directly must be changed to use update-rc.d instead. (This is
because the file-rc package handles this information in an
- incompatible way.) [10.3.3]
+ incompatible way.) [9.3.3]
- Architecture-specific examples go in /usr/lib/<package>/examples
with symlinks from /usr/share/doc/<package>/examples/* or from
- /usr/share/doc/<package>/examples itself [13.7]
+ /usr/share/doc/<package>/examples itself [12.7]
- Updated FHS to a 2.1 draft; this reverts /var/state to
- /var/lib [10.1.1]
- - Added MIME sub-policy document [10.7; mime-policy]
+ /var/lib [9.1.1]
+ - Added MIME sub-policy document [9.7; mime-policy]
- VISUAL is allowed as a (higher priority) alternative to EDITOR [12.4]
- Modified liblockfile description, which affects
mailbox-accessing programs. Please see the policy document for
- details [12.6]
+ details [11.6]
- If a package provides a changelog in HTML format, a text-only
version should also be included. (Such a version may be prepared
- using lynx -dump -nolist.) [13.8]
+ using lynx -dump -nolist.) [12.7]
- Description of how to handle version numbers based on dates
- added [4.1]
+ added [3.2.1]
-
-3.0.1.0 Jul 99
+3.0.1.0 Jul 1999
- Added the clarification that the .la files are essential for the
packages using libtool's libltdl library, in which case the
- .la files must go in the run-time library package [11.2]
-
+ .la files must go in the run-time library package [10.2]
-3.0.0.0 Jun 99
+3.0.0.0 Jun 1999
- Debian formally moves from the FSSTND to the FHS. This is a
major change, and the implications of this move are probably
- not all known. [10.1]
+ not all known. [9.1]
- Only 3 digits of the Standards version need be included in
- control files, though all four digits are still permitted. [2.4.1]
+ control files, though all four digits are still permitted. [4.1]
- The location of the GPL has changed to
/usr/share/common-licenses. This may require changing the
copyright files to point to the correct location of the GPL and
- other major licenses [13.6]
+ other major licenses [12.6]
- Packages that use libtool to create shared libraries must
- include the .la files in the -dev packages [11.2]
- - Use logrotate to rotate log files [11.8]
+ include the .la files in the -dev packages [10.2]
+ - Use logrotate to rotate log files [10.8]
- section 5.8 has been rewritten (Programs for the X Window
- System) [now 12.8]
+ System) [now 11.8]
- There is now an associated menu policy, in a separate document,
- that carries the full weight of Debian policy [10.6; menu-policy]
+ that carries the full weight of Debian policy [9.6; menu-policy]
- Programs which need to modify the files /var/run/utmp,
- /var/log/wtmp and /var/log/lastlog must be installed setgid utmp [12.3]
+ /var/log/wtmp and /var/log/lastlog must be installed setgid utmp [11.3]
+
+
+** Please note that section numbers below this point may not be up to date **
-2.5.0.0 Oct 98
+2.5.0.0 Oct 1998
Policy Manual:
- Rearranged the manual to create a new Section 4, Files
- Ratified the architecture specification strings to cater to the
HURD.
-2.4.1.0 Apr 98
+2.4.1.0 Apr 1998
Policy Manual:
- Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic links:
installs shared libraries
(cf., Policy Weekly Issue #6, fixes:bug#20515)
-2.4.0.0 Jan 98
+2.4.0.0 Jan 1998
- Updated section 3.3.4 Scripts:
+ /bin/sh may be any POSIX compatible shell
+ games for X Windows have to be installed in /usr/games, just as
non-X games
-2.3.0.1, 2.3.0.0 Sep 97
+2.3.0.1, 2.3.0.0 Sep 1997
* new section `4.2 Daemons' including rules for
/etc/services, /etc/protocols, /etc/rpc, and /etc/inetd.conf
* MUAs and MTAs have to use liblockfile
-2.2.0.0 Jul 97
+2.2.0.0 Jul 1997
* added section 4.1 `Architecture specification strings':
use
* app-defaults files may not be conffiles
-2.1.3.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.3.0 Mar 97
+2.1.3.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.3.0 Mar 1997
* two programs with different functionality must not have the
same name
* Libraries should be stripped with "strip --strip-unneeded"
-2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.1, 2.1.2.0 Nov 96
+2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.1, 2.1.2.0 Nov 1996
* Some changes WRT shared libraries
-2.1.1.0 Sep 96
+2.1.1.0 Sep 1996
* No hard links in source packages
* Shared libraries must be installed stripped
-2.1.0.0 Aug 96
+2.1.0.0 Aug 1996
* Upstream changelog must be installed too
</pre>
projects / debian / debian-policy.git / blobdiff