1 -*- mode: org; fill-column: 78 -*-
3 #+STARTUP: lognotedone lognotestate
5 #+TITLE: Policy checklist for upgrading your packages
6 #+AUTHOR: Bill Allombert, Josip Rodin, Julian Gilbey, Russ Allbery, and Manoj Srivastava
7 #+EMAIL: srivasta@debian.org
8 #+OPTIONS: H:3 num:nil toc:nil \n:nil @:t ::t |:t ^:t -:t f:t *:t TeX:t LaTeX:nil skip:t d:nil tags:not-in-toc
9 #+LINK_HOME: http://wiki.debian.org/Teams/Policy
10 #+LINK_UP: http://www.debian.org/
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34 ** About the checklist
36 The checklist below has been created to simplify the upgrading process
37 of old packages. Note that this list is not "official"; it simply
38 gives an indication of what has changed and whether you are likely to
39 need to make changes to your package in light of this. If you have
40 doubts about a certain topic, if you need more details, or if you
41 think some other package does not comply with policy, please refer to
42 the Policy Manual itself. All of the changes from version 3.0.0
43 onwards indicate which section of the Policy Manual discusses the
44 issue: [3.4] means section 3.4. The section numbering changed when
45 the packaging manual was incorporated into policy; the section numbers
46 used below refer to the current version.
48 Here is how the check list works: Check which policy version your
49 package was checked against last (indicated in the "Standards-Version"
50 field of the source package). Then move upwards until the top and
51 check which of the items on the list might concern your package. Note
52 which sections of policy discuss this, and then check out the Policy
53 Manual for details. If you are upgrading from Policy version < 2.5.0,
54 it may be easier to check through the whole of policy instead of
55 picking your way through this list.
67 + *9.1.1* : An FHS exception has been granted for multiarch libraries.
68 Permitting files to instead be installed to ~/lib/triplet~ and
69 ~/usr/lib/triplet~ directories.
70 + *10.6* : Explicitly state that packages may not contain named pipes and
71 should instead create them in postinst and remove them in prerm or postrm.
72 + *9.1.1* : ~/sys~ and ~/selinux~ directories are explicitly allowed as an
83 + *4.9* : Add DEB\_*\_ARCH\_CPU and DEB\_*\_ARCH\_OS variables and
84 recommend them over GNU-style variables for that information.
85 + *5.6.8*: Source package Architecture fields may contain /all/ in
86 combination with other architectures. Clarify when /all/ and /any/
87 may be used in different versions of the field.
88 + *5.6.14* : The Debian archive software does not support uploading
89 to multiple distributions with one ~*.changes~ file.
90 + *5.6.19* : The Binary field may span multiple lines.
91 + *10.2* : Remove the permission for shared library packages to
92 install libraries in a non-standard location and modify ld.so.conf.
93 Packages should either be installed in a standard library directory
94 or packages using them should be built with RPATH.
95 + *11.8.7* : Clarify installation directories for X programs and
96 remove the requirement to pre-depend on x11-common before installing
97 into ~/usr/include/X11~ and ~/usr/lib/X11~.
98 + *12.1* : Remove the requirement that all characters in a manual
99 page be representable in the legacy encoding for that language.
100 + *12.1* : Localized man pages should either be kept up-to-date with
101 the original version or warn that they're not up-to-date, either
102 with warning text or by showing missing or changed portions in the
104 + *12.2* : install-info is now handled via triggers so packages no
105 longer need to invoke it in maintainer scripts. Info documents
106 should now have directory sections and entries in the document.
107 Packages containing info documents should add a dependency to
108 support partial upgrades.
109 + *perl* : The requirement for Perl modules to have a versioned
110 Depend and Build-Depend on perl >= 5.6.0-16 has been removed.
120 + *2.4*: The list of archive sections has been significantly expanded. See
121 [[http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2009/03/msg00010.html]]
122 for the list of new sections and rules for how to categorize
124 + *3.9.1*: All packages must use debconf or equivalent for user prompting,
125 though essential packages or their dependencies may also fall
126 back on other methods.
127 + *5.6.1*: The requirements for source package names are now explicitly
129 + *9.1*: Legacy XFree86 servers no longer get a special exception from the
130 FHS permitting ~/etc/X11/XF86Config-4~.
131 + *9.1.3*: Removed obsolete dependency requirements for packages that use
133 + *11.8.5*: Speedo fonts are now deprecated. The X backend was disabled
135 + *12.5*: The GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 is included in
136 common-licenses and should be referenced from there.
146 + *3.8*: Care should be taken when adding functionality to essential and
147 such additions create an obligation to support that functionality
148 in essential forever unless significant work is done.
149 + *4.4*: Changelog files must be encoded in UTF-8.
150 + *4.4*: Tighten some format requirements for changelog files from a should
152 + *4.4.1*: Remove alternative changelog formats. Debian only supports one
153 changelog format for the Debian Archive.
154 + *4.9.1*: New nocheck option for DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS indicating any build-time
155 test suite provided by the package should not be run.
156 + *5.1*: All control files must be encoded in UTF-8.
157 + *5.2*: ~debian/control~ allows comment lines starting with # with no
158 preceding whitespace.
159 + *9.3*: Init scripts ending in .sh are not handled specially. They are not
160 sourced and are not guaranteed to be run by ~/bin/sh~ regardless of
161 the #! line. This brings Policy in line with the long-standing
162 behavior of the init system in Debian.
163 + *9.3.2*: The start action of an init script must exit successfully and not
164 start the daemon again if it's already running.
165 + *9.3.2*: ~/var/run~ and ~/var/lock~ may be mounted as temporary filesystems,
166 and init scripts must therefore create any necessary subdirectories
168 + *10.4*: ~/bin/sh~ scripts may assume that local can take multiple variable
169 arguments and supports assignment.
170 + *11.6*: User mailboxes may be mode 600 and owned by the user rather than
171 mode 660, owned by user, and group mail.
181 + *2.4, 3.7*: The base section has been removed. contrib and non-free have been
182 removed from the section list; they are only categories. The base
183 system is now defined by priority.
184 + *4.9*: If dpkg-source -x doesn't provide the source that will be compiled,
185 a debian/rules patch target is recommended and should do whatever
187 + *4.9.1, 10.1*: Standardized the format of DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS. Specified permitted
188 characters for tags, required that tags be whitespace-separated,
189 allowed packages to assume non-conflicting tags, and required
190 unknown flags be ignored.
191 + *4.9.1*: Added parallel=n to the standardized DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS tags,
192 indicating that a package should be built using up to n parallel
193 processes if the package supports it
194 + *4.13*: Debian packages should not use convenience copies of code from other
195 packages unless the included package is explicitly intended to be
197 + *4.14*: If dpkg-source -x doesn't produce source ready for editing and
198 building with dpkg-buildpackage, packages should include a
199 ~debian/README.source~ file explaining how to generate the patched
200 source, add a new modification, and remove an existing
201 modification. This file may also be used to document packaging a
202 new upstream release and any other complexity of the Debian build
204 + *5.6.3*: The Uploaders field in ~debian/control~ may be wrapped.
205 + *5.6.12*: An empty Debian revision is equivalent to a Debian revision of 0 in
207 + *5.6.23*: New Homepage field for upstream web sites.
208 + *6.5, 6.6, 7*: The Breaks field declares that this package breaks another and
209 prevents installation of the breaking package unless the package
210 named in Breaks is deconfigured first. This field should not be
211 used until the dpkg in Debian stable supports it.
212 + *8.1, 8.2*: Clarify which files should go into a shared library package, into a
213 separate package, or into the -dev package. Suggest -tools instead
214 of -runtime for runtime support programs, since that naming is more
216 + *9.5*: Files in ~/etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly}~ must be
217 configuration files (upgraded from should). Mention the hourly
219 + *11.8.6*: Packages providing ~/etc/X11/Xresources~ files need not conflict
220 with xbase (<< 3.3.2.3a-2), which is long-obsolete.
221 + *12.1*: Manual pages in locale-specific directories should use either the
222 legacy encoding for that directory or UTF-8. Country names should
223 not be included in locale-specific manual page directories unless
224 indicating a significant difference in the language. All
225 characters in the manual page source should be representable in the
226 legacy encoding for a locale even if the man page is encoded in
228 + *12.5*: The Apache 2.0 license is now in common-licenses and should be
229 referenced rather than quoted in ~debian/copyright~.
230 + *12.5*: Packages in contrib and non-free should state in the copyright file
231 that the package is not part of Debian GNU/Linux and briefly
233 + *debconf*: Underscore (_) is allowed in debconf template names.
243 + *5.6.12*: Package version numbers may contain tildes, which sort before
244 anything, even the end of a part.
245 + *10.4*: Scripts may assume that ~/bin/sh~ supports local (at a basic level)
246 and that its test builtin (if any) supports -a and -o binary
248 + *8.5*: The substitution variable ${binary:Version} should be used in place
249 of ${Source-Version} for dependencies between packages of the same
251 + *menu policy*: Substantial reorganization and renaming of sections in the Debian
252 menu structure. Packages with menu entries should be reviewed to
253 see if the menu section has been renamed or if one of the new
254 sections would be more appropriate.
255 + *5.6.1*: The Source field in a .changes file may contain a version number
257 + *5.6.17*: The acceptable values for the Urgency field are low, medium, high,
258 critical, or emergency.
259 + *8.6*: The shlibs file now allows an optional type field, indicating the
260 type of package for which the line is valid. The only currently
261 supported type is udeb, used with packages for the Debian
263 + *3.9.1*: Packages following the Debian Configuration management
264 specification must allow for translation of their messages by using
265 a gettext-based system such as po-debconf.
266 + *12.5*: GFDL 1.2, GPL 3, and LGPL 3 are now in common-licenses and should
267 be referenced rather than quoted in ~debian/copyright~.
277 + *6.1*: Maintainer scripts must not be world writeable (up from a
288 + *11.5*: Revert the cgi-lib change.
298 + *10.2*: It is now possible to create shared libraries without
299 relocatable code (using -fPIC) in certain exceptional cases,
300 provided some procedures are followed, and for creating static
301 libraries with relocatable code (again, using -fPIC).
302 Discussion on debian-devel@lists.debian.org, getting a rough
303 consensus, and documenting it in README.Debian constitute most
305 + *11.8.7*: Packages should install any relevant files into the directories
306 ~/usr/include/X11/~ and ~/usr/lib/X11/~, but if they do so, they
307 must pre-depend on x11-common (>= 1:7.0.0)
311 :CUSTOM_ID: v3.7.0.0.
317 + *11.5*: Packages shipping web server CGI files are expected to install
318 them in ~/usr/lib/cgi-lib/~ directories. This location change
319 perhaps should be documented in NEWS
320 + *11.5*: Web server packages should include a standard scriptAlias of
321 cgi-lib to ~/usr/lib/cgi-lib~.
322 + *9.1.1*: The version of FHS mandated by policy has been upped to
323 2.3. There should be no changes required for most packages,
324 though new top level directories ~/media~, ~/srv~, etc may be of
326 + *5.1, 5.6.3*: All fields, apart from the Uploaders field, in the control file
327 are supposed to be a single logical line, which may be spread
328 over multiple physical lines (newline followed by space is
329 elided). However, any parser for the control file must allow
330 the Uploaders field to be spread over multiple physical lines
331 as well, to prepare for future changes.
332 + *10.4*: When scripts are installed into a directory in the system
333 PATH, the script name should not include an extension that
334 denotes the scripting language currently used to implement it.
336 + *9.3.3.2*: packages that invoke initscripts now must use invoke-rc.d to do
337 so since it also pays attention to run levels and other local
339 + *11.8.5.2, 11.8.7, etc*: We no longer use ~/usr/X11R6~, since we have
340 migrated away to using Xorg paths. This means, for one thing, fonts
341 live in ~/usr/share/fonts/X11/~ now, and ~/usr/X11R6~ is gone.
352 + Recommend. doc-base, and not menu, for registering package documentation.
353 + *8.1*: Run time support programs should live in subdirectories of
354 ~/usr/lib/~ or ~/usr/share~, and preferably the shared lib is named
355 the same as the package name (to avoid name collisions).
356 + *11.5*: It is recommended that HTTP servers provide an alias ~/images~ to
357 allow packages to share image files with the web server
367 + *3.10.1*: Prompting the user should be done using debconf. Non debconf
368 user prompts are now deprecated.
378 + Restructuring causing shifts in section numbers and bumping of
379 the minor version number:
380 + Many packaging manual appendices that were integrated into policy
381 sections are now empty, and replaced with links to the Policy.
382 In particular, the appendices that included the list of control
383 fields were updated (new fields like Closes, Changed-By were added)
384 and the list of fields for each of control, .changes and .dsc files
385 is now in Policy, and they're marked mandatory, recommended or
386 optional based on the current practice and the behavior of the
387 deb-building tool-chain.
388 + Elimination of needlessly deep section levels, primarily in the
389 chapter Debian Archive, from which two new chapters were split out,
390 Binary packages and Source packages. What remained was reordered
391 properly, that is, some sect1s became sects etc.
392 + Several sections that were redundant, crufty or simply not designed
393 with any sort of vision, were rearranged according to the formula that
394 everything should be either in the same place or properly interlinked.
395 Some things remained split up between different chapters when they
396 talked about different aspects of files: their content, their syntax,
397 and their placement in the file system. In particular, see the new
398 sections about changelog files.
399 + *menu policy*: Added Games/Simulation and Apps/Education to menu
401 + *C.2.2*: Debian changelogs should be UTF-8 encoded.
402 + *10.2*: shared libraries must be linked against all libraries that they
403 use symbols from in the same way that binaries are.
404 + *7.6*: build-depends-indep need not be satisfied during clean
409 :CUSTOM_ID: v3.5.10.0
415 + *11.8.3*: packages providing the x-terminal-emulator virtual package
416 ought to ensure that they interpret the command line exactly
418 + *11.8.4*: Window managers compliant with the Window Manager Specification
419 Project may add 40 points for ranking in the alternatives
429 + *3.4.2*: The section describing the Description: package field once again has
430 full details of the long description format.
431 + *4.2*: Clarified that if a package has non-build-essential
432 build-dependencies, it should have them listed in the Build-Depends
433 and related fields (i.e. it's not merely optional).
434 + *9.3.2*: When asked to restart a service that isn't already running,
435 the init script should start the service.
436 + *12.6*: If the purpose of a package is to provide examples, then the
437 example files can be installed into ~/usr/share/doc/package~ (rather
438 than ~/usr/share/doc/package/examples~).
448 + *12.7*: It is no longer necessary to keep a log of changes to the upstream
449 sources in the copyright file. Instead, all such changes should be
450 documented in the changelog file.
451 + *7.6*: =Build-Depends=, =Build-Conflicts=, =Build-Depends-Indep=,
452 and =Build-Conflicts-Indep= must also be satisfied when the clean
454 + *menu policy*: A new Apps/Science menu section is available
455 + *debconf policy*: debconf specification cleared up, various changes.
456 + *12.1*: It is no longer recommended to create symlinks from nonexistent
457 manual pages to undocumented(7). Missing manual pages for programs
468 + Packages no longer have to ask permission to call MAKEDEV in
469 postinst, merely notifying the user ought to be enough.
470 + *2.2.4*: cryptographic software may now be included in the main
472 + *3.9*: task packages are no longer permitted; tasks are now created by a
473 special Tasks: field in the control file.
474 + *11.8.4*: window managers that support netwm can now add 20 points when
475 they add themselves as an alternative for
476 ~/usr/bin/x-window-manager~
477 + *10.1*: The default compilation options have now changed, one should
478 provide debugging symbols in all cases, and optionally step
479 back optimization to -O0, depending on the DEB\_BUILD\_OPTIONS
480 environment variable.
481 + *7.6, 4.8*: Added mention of build-arch, build-indep, etc, in describing
482 the relationships with `Build-Depends', `Build-Conflicts',
483 `Build-Depends-Indep', and `Build-Conflicts-Indep'. May need to
484 review the new rules.
485 + *8*: Changed rules on how, and when, to invoke ldconfig in maintainer
486 scripts. Long rationale.
488 *Added the last note in 3.5.6 upgrading checklist item regarding build rules, please see below*
498 + *2.5*: Emacs and TeX are no longer mandated by policy to be priority
500 + *11.5*: Programs that access docs need to do so via ~/usr/share/doc~, and
501 not via ~/usr/doc/~ as was the policy previously
502 + *12.3*: Putting documentation in ~/usr/doc~ versus ~/usr/share/doc~ is now
503 a ``serious'' policy violation.
504 + *11.5*: For web servers, one should not provide non-local access to the
505 ~/usr/share/doc~ hierarchy. If one can't provide access controls for
506 the http://localhost/doc/ directory, then it is preferred that one
507 ask permission to expose that information during the install.
508 + *7*: There are new rules for build-indep/build-arch targets and
509 there is a new Build-Depend-Indep semantic.
519 + *12.1*: Manpages should not rely on header information to have
520 alternative manpage names available; it should only use
521 symlinks or .so pages to do this
522 + *Clarified note in 3.5.3.0 upgrading checklist regarding
523 examples and templates: this refers only to those examples used
524 by scripts; see section 10.7.3 for the whole story*
525 + Included a new section 10.9.1 describing the use of
526 dpkg-statoverride; this does not have the weight of policy
527 + Clarify Standards-Version: you don't need to rebuild your
528 packages just to change the Standards-Version!
529 + *10.2*: Plugins are no longer bound by all the rules of shared
531 + X Windows related things:
532 * *11.8.1*: Clarification of priority levels of X Window System related
534 * *11.8.3*: Rules for defining x-terminal-emulator improved
535 * *11.8.5*: X Font policy rewritten: you must read this if you provide
536 fonts for the X Window System
537 * *11.8.6*: Packages must not ship ~/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/~
538 * *11.8.7*: X-related packages should usually use the regular FHS
539 locations; imake-using packages are exempted from this
540 * *11.8.8*: OpenMotif linked binaries have the same rules as
541 OSF/Motif-linked ones
551 + *11.6*: The system-wide mail directory is now ~/var/mail~, no longer
552 ~/var/spool/mail~. Any packages accessing the mail spool should
553 access it via ~/var/mail~ and include a suitable Depends field;
555 + *11.9; perl-policy*: The perl policy is now part of Debian policy
556 proper. Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl
568 + *7.1*: Build-Depends arch syntax has been changed to be less
569 ambiguous. This should not affect any current packages
570 + *10.7.3*: Examples and templates files for use by scripts should now live
571 in ~/usr/share/<package>~ or ~/usr/lib/<package>~, with
572 symbolic links from ~/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples~ as
583 + *11.8.6*: X app-defaults directory has moved from
584 ~/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults~ to ~/etc/X11/app-defaults~
594 + *8.1*: dpkg-shlibdeps now uses objdump, so shared libraries have to be
595 run through dpkg-shlibdeps as well as executables
605 + *11.8.5*: Font packages for the X Window System must now declare a
606 dependency on xutils (>= 4.0.2)
616 + *9.3.2*: Daemon startup scripts in ~/etc/init.d/~ should not contain
617 modifiable parameters; these should be moved to a file in
619 + *12.3*: Files in ~/usr/share/doc~ must not be referenced by any
620 program. If such files are needed, they must be placed in
621 ~/usr/share/<package>/~, and symbolic links created as required
622 in ~/usr/share/doc/<package>/~
623 + Much of the packaging manual has now been imported into the
634 + *11.8.1*: A package of priority standard or higher may provide two
635 binaries, one compiled with support for the X Window System,
636 and the other without
646 + *10.1*: By default executables should not be built with the debugging
647 option -g. Instead, it is recommended to support building the
648 package with debugging information optionally. Details in
649 + *12.8*: Policy for packages where the upstream uses HTML changelog
650 files has been expanded. In short, a plain text changelog file
651 should always be generated for the upstream changes
652 + Please note that the new release of the X window system (3.2)
653 shall probably need sweeping changes in policy
654 + Policy for packages providing the following X-based features
656 - *11.8.2*: X server (virtual package xserver)
657 - *11.8.3*: X terminal emulator (virtual package x-terminal-emulator)
658 - *11.8.4*: X window manager (virtual package x-window-manager, and
659 ~/usr/bin/x-window-manager~ alternative, with priority
660 calculation guidelines)
661 - *12.8.5*: X fonts (this section has been written from scratch)
662 - *11.8.6*: X application defaults
663 + *11.8.7*: Policy for packages using the X Window System and FHS issues
665 + *11.7.3*: No package may contain or make hard links to conffiles
666 + *8*: Noted that newer dpkg versions do not require extreme care in
667 always creating the shared lib before the symlink, so the unpack
678 + *7.1*: Correction to semantics of architecture lists in Build-Depends
679 etc. Should not affect many packages
689 + ~/usr/doc/<package>~ has to be a symlink pointing to
690 ~/usr/share/doc/<package>~, to be maintained by postinst
691 and prerm scripts. Details are in *defunct*
692 + *7.1, 7.6*: Introduced source dependencies (Build-Depends, etc.)
693 + *9.3.4*: ~/etc/rc.boot~ has been deprecated in favour of ~/etc/rcS.d~.
694 (Packages should not be touching this directory, but should use
696 + *9.3.3*: update-rc.d is now the *only* allowable way of accessing the
697 ~/etc/rc?.d/[SK]??*~ links. Any scripts which manipulate them
698 directly must be changed to use update-rc.d instead. (This is
699 because the file-rc package handles this information in an
701 + *12.7*: Architecture-specific examples go in ~/usr/lib/<package>/examples~
702 with symlinks from ~/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples/*~ or from
703 ~/usr/share/doc/<package>/examples~ itself
704 + *9.1.1*: Updated FHS to a 2.1 draft; this reverts ~/var/state~ to
706 + *9.7; mime-policy*: Added MIME sub-policy document
707 + *12.4*: VISUAL is allowed as a (higher priority) alternative to EDITOR
708 + *11.6*: Modified liblockfile description, which affects
709 mailbox-accessing programs. Please see the policy document for
711 + *12.7*: If a package provides a changelog in HTML format, a text-only
712 version should also be included. (Such a version may be prepared
713 using lynx -dump -nolist.)
714 + *3.2.1*: Description of how to handle version numbers based on dates
725 + *10.2*: Added the clarification that the .la files are essential for
726 the packages using libtool's libltdl library, in which case the .la
727 files must go in the run-time library package
737 + *9.1*: Debian formally moves from the FSSTND to the FHS. This is a
738 major change, and the implications of this move are probably
740 + *4.1*: Only 3 digits of the Standards version need be included in
741 control files, though all four digits are still permitted.
742 + *12.6*: The location of the GPL has changed to
743 ~/usr/share/common-licenses~. This may require changing the
744 copyright files to point to the correct location of the GPL and
746 + *10.2*: Packages that use libtool to create shared libraries must
747 include the .la files in the -dev packages
748 + *10.8*: Use logrotate to rotate log files
749 + *11.8*: section 5.8 (now 11.8) has been rewritten (Programs for the X Window
751 + *9.6; menu-policy*: There is now an associated menu policy, in a separate document,
752 that carries the full weight of Debian policy
753 + *11.3*: Programs which need to modify the files ~/var/run/utmp~,
754 ~/var/log/wtmp~ and ~/var/log/lastlog~ must be installed setgid utmp
757 *Please note that section numbers below this point may not be up to date*
769 + Rearranged the manual to create a new Section 4, Files
770 + Section 3.3 ("Files") was moved to Section 4. The Sections
771 that were Section 4 and Section 5 were moved down to become
772 Section 5 and Section 6.
773 + What was Section 5.5 ("Log files") is now a subsection of the
774 new Section 4 ("Files"), becoming section 4.8, placed after
775 "Configuration files", moving the Section 4.8 ("Permissions
776 and owners") to Section 4.9. All subsections of the old
777 Section 5 after 5.5 were moved down to fill in the number
779 + Modified the section about changelog files to accommodate
780 upstream changelogs which were formatted as HTML. These
781 upstream changelog files should now be accessible as
782 ~/usr/doc/package/changelog.html.gz~
783 + Symlinks are permissible to link the real, or upstream,
784 changelog name to the Debian mandated name.
785 + Clarified that HTML documentation should be present in some
786 package, though not necessarily the main binary package.
787 + Corrected all references to the location of the copyright
788 files. The correct location is ~/usr/doc/package/copyright~
789 + Ratified the architecture specification strings to cater to the
801 + Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic links:
802 + symbolic links within a toplevel directory should be relative,
803 symbolic links between toplevel directories should be absolute
804 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 2)
806 + Updated section 4.9 Games:
807 + manpages for games should be installed in ~/usr/man/man6~
808 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 3)
810 **** Packaging Manual:
811 + Updated prefix of chapter 12, Shared Libraries:
812 ldconfig must be called in the postinst script if the package
813 installs shared libraries
814 (cf., Policy Weekly Issue #6, fixes:bug#20515)
824 + Updated section 3.3.4 Scripts:
825 + ~/bin/sh~ may be any POSIX compatible shell
826 + scripts including bashisms have to specify ~/bin/bash~ as
828 + scripts which create files in world-writable directories
829 (e.g., in ~/tmp~) should use tempfile or mktemp for creating
832 + Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic Links:
833 + symbolic links referencing compressed files must have the same
834 file extension as the referenced file
836 + Updated section 3.3.6 Device files:
837 + ~/dev/tty*~ serial devices should be used instead of ~/dev/cu*~
839 + Updated section 3.4.2 Writing the scripts in ~/etc/init.d~:
840 + all ~/etc/init.d~ scripts have to provide the following options:
841 start, stop, restart, force-reload
842 + the reload option is optional and must never stop and restart
845 + Updated section 3.5 Cron jobs:
846 + cron jobs that need to be executed more often than daily should
847 be installed into ~/etc/cron.d~
849 + Updated section 3.7 Menus:
850 + removed section about how to register HTML docs to `menu'
851 (the corresponding section in 4.4, Web servers and applications,
852 has been removed in policy 2.2.0.0 already, so this one was
855 + New section 3.8 Keyboard configuration:
856 + details about how the backspace and delete keys should be
859 + New section 3.9 Environment variables:
860 + no program must depend on environment variables to get a
861 reasonable default configuration
863 + New section 4.6 News system configuration:
864 + ~/etc/news/organization~ and ~/etc/news/server~ should be supported
865 by all news servers and clients
867 + Updated section 4.7 Programs for the X Window System:
868 + programs requiring a non-free Motif library should be provided
869 as foo-smotif and foo-dmotif package
870 + if lesstif works reliably for such program, it should be linked
871 against lesstif and not against a non-free Motif library
873 + Updated section 4.9 Games:
874 + games for X Windows have to be installed in ~/usr/games~, just as
885 + new section `4.2 Daemons' including rules for
886 ~/etc/services~, ~/etc/protocols~, ~/etc/rpc~, and ~/etc/inetd.conf~
888 + updated section about `Configuration files':
889 packages may not touch other packages' configuration files
891 + MUAs and MTAs have to use liblockfile
901 + added section 4.1 `Architecture specification strings':
904 where <arch> is one of the following:
905 i386, alpha, arm, m68k, powerpc, sparc.
907 + detailed rules for ~/usr/local~
911 + editor/pager policy
917 + don't install shared libraries as executable
919 + app-defaults files may not be conffiles
921 *** 2.1.3.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.3.0
929 + two programs with different functionality must not have the
934 + "Standard for Console Messages"
936 + Libraries should be compiled with `-D\_REENTRANT'
938 + Libraries should be stripped with "strip --strip-unneeded"
940 *** 2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.1, 2.1.2.0
948 + Some changes WRT shared libraries
958 + No hard links in source packages
960 + Do not use dpkg-divert or update-alternatives without consultation
962 + Shared libraries must be installed stripped
972 + Upstream changelog must be installed too
projects / debian / debian-policy.git / blob