</sect>
</chapt>
- <chapt id="versions"><heading>Version numbering </heading>
+ <chapt id="versions"><heading>Version numbering</heading>
<p>
- Every package has a version number, in its <tt>Version</tt>
- control file field.
+ Every package has a version number recorded in its
+ <tt>Version</tt> control file field.
</p>
<p>
<p>
The version number format is:
- &lsqb<var>epoch</var><tt>:</tt>]<var>upstream-version</var>[<tt>-</tt><var>debian-revision</var>]
+ &lsqb<var>epoch</var><tt>:</tt>]<var>upstream_version</var>[<tt>-</tt><var>debian_revision</var>]
</p>
<p>
<p>
This is a single (generally small) unsigned integer. It
may be omitted, in which case zero is assumed. If it is
- omitted then the <var>upstream-version</var> may not
+ omitted then the <var>upstream_version</var> may not
contain any colons.
</p>
</item>
- <tag><var>upstream-version</var></tag>
+ <tag><var>upstream_version</var></tag>
<item>
<p>
- This is the main part of the version. It is usually the
- version number of the original (`upstream') package from
- which the <tt>.deb</tt> file has been made, if this is
- applicable. Usually this will be in the same format as
- that specified by the upstream author(s); however, it
- may need to be reformatted to fit into the package
- management system's format and comparison scheme.
+ This is the main part of the version number. It is
+ usually the version number of the original (`upstream')
+ package from which the <tt>.deb</tt> file has been made,
+ if this is applicable. Usually this will be in the same
+ format as that specified by the upstream author(s);
+ however, it may need to be reformatted to fit into the
+ package management system's format and comparison
+ scheme.
</p>
<p>
The comparison behavior of the package management system
- with respect to the <var>upstream-version</var> is
- described below. The <var>upstream-version</var>
+ with respect to the <var>upstream_version</var> is
+ described below. The <var>upstream_version</var>
portion of the version number is mandatory.
</p>
<p>
- The <var>upstream-version</var> may contain only
- alphanumerics and the characters <tt>.</tt> <tt>+</tt>
- <tt>-</tt> <tt>:</tt> (full stop, plus, hyphen, colon)
- and should start with a digit. If there is no
- <var>debian-revision</var> then hyphens are not allowed;
+ The <var>upstream_version</var> may contain only
+ alphanumerics
+ <footnote>
+ <p>Alphanumerics are <tt>A-Za-z0-9</tt> only.</p>
+ </footnote>
+ and the characters <tt>.</tt> <tt>+</tt> <tt>-</tt>
+ <tt>:</tt> (full stop, plus, hyphen, colon) and should
+ start with a digit. If there is no
+ <var>debian_revision</var> then hyphens are not allowed;
if there is no <var>epoch</var> then colons are not
allowed.</p>
</item>
- <tag><var>debian-revision</var></tag>
+ <tag><var>debian_revision</var></tag>
<item>
<p>
- This part of the version represents the version of the
- modifications that were made to the package to make it a
- Debian binary package. It is in the same format as the
- <var>upstream-version</var> and is compared in the same
- way.
+ This part of the version number specifies the version of
+ the Debian package based on the upstream version. It
+ may contain only alphanumerics and the characters
+ <tt>+</tt> and <tt>.</tt> (plus and full stop) and is
+ compared in the same way as the
+ <var>upstream_version</var> is.
</p>
<p>
It is optional; if it isn't present then the
- <var>upstream-version</var> may not contain a hyphen.
+ <var>upstream_version</var> may not contain a hyphen.
This format represents the case where a piece of
software was written specifically to be turned into a
- Debian binary package, and so there is only one
- `debianization' of it and therefore no revision
- indication is required.
+ Debian package, and so there is only one `debianization'
+ of it and therefore no revision indication is required.
</p>
<p>
It is conventional to restart the
- <var>debian-revision</var> at <tt>1</tt> each time the
- <var>upstream-version</var> is increased.
- </p>
-
- <p>
- The package management system will break the
- <var>upstream-version</var> and
- <var>debian-revision</var> apart at the last hyphen in
- the string. The absence of a <var>debian-revision</var>
- compares earlier than the presence of one (but note that
- the <var>debian-revision</var> is the least significant
- part of the version number).
+ <var>debian_revision</var> at <tt>1</tt> each time the
+ <var>upstream_version</var> is increased.
</p>
<p>
- The <var>debian-revision</var> may contain only
- alphanumerics and the characters <tt>+</tt> and
- <tt>.</tt> (plus and full stop).
+ The package management system will break the version
+ number apart at the last hyphen in the string (if there
+ is one) to determine the <var>upstream_version</var> and
+ <var>debian_revision</var>. The absence of a
+ <var>debian_revision</var> compares earlier than the
+ presence of one (but note that the
+ <var>debian_revision</var> is the least significant part
+ of the version number).
</p>
</item>
</taglist>
- The <var>upstream-version</var> and <var>debian-revision</var>
+ The <var>upstream_version</var> and <var>debian_revision</var>
parts are compared by the package management system using the
same algorithm:
</p>
</p>
<p>
- These two steps are repeated (chopping initial non-digit
- strings and initial digit strings off from the start) until a
+ These two steps (comparing and removing initial non-digit
+ strings and initial digit strings) are repeated until a
difference is found or both strings are exhausted.
</p>
<p>
Note that the purpose of epochs is to allow us to leave behind
mistakes in version numbering, and to cope with situations
- where the version numbering changes. It is <em>not</em> there
- to cope with version numbers containing strings of letters
- which the package management system cannot interpret (such as
- <tt>ALPHA</tt> or <tt>pre-</tt>), or with silly orderings (the
- author of this manual has heard of a package whose versions
- went <tt>1.1</tt>, <tt>1.2</tt>, <tt>1.3</tt>, <tt>1</tt>,
- <tt>2.1</tt>, <tt>2.2</tt>, <tt>2</tt> and so forth).
+ where the version numbering scheme changes. It is
+ <em>not</em> intended to cope with version numbers containing
+ strings of letters which the package management system cannot
+ interpret (such as <tt>ALPHA</tt> or <tt>pre-</tt>), or with
+ silly orderings (the author of this manual has heard of a
+ package whose versions went <tt>1.1</tt>, <tt>1.2</tt>,
+ <tt>1.3</tt>, <tt>1</tt>, <tt>2.1</tt>, <tt>2.2</tt>,
+ <tt>2</tt> and so forth).
</p>
<p>
too.</p>
<p>
- Note, that other version formats based on dates which are
+ Note that other version formats based on dates which are
parsed correctly by the package management system should
<em>not</em> be changed.</p>
projects / debian / debian-policy.git / commitdiff