- -

Policy checklist for upgrading your packages

- - -

About the checklist

- - -

-The checklist below has been created to simplify the upgrading process -of old packages. Note that this list is not "official"; it simply -gives an indication of what has changed and whether you are likely to -need to make changes to your package in light of this. If you have -doubts about a certain topic, if you need more details, or if you -think some other package does not comply with policy, please refer to -the Policy Manual itself. All of the changes from version 3.0.0 -onwards indicate which section of the Policy Manual discusses the -issue: [3.4] means section 3.4. The section numbering changed when -the packaging manual was incorporated into policy; the section numbers -used below refer to the current version. -

-Here is how the check list works: Check which policy version your -package was checked against last (indicated in the "Standards-Version" -field of the source package). Then move upwards until the top and -check which of the items on the list might concern your package. Note -which sections of policy discuss this, and then check out the Policy -Manual for details. If you are upgrading from Policy version < 2.5.0, -it may be easier to check through the whole of policy instead of -picking your way through this list. -

- -

The checklist

- - - -

- -

3.8.4.0

- - -

-Released Jan 2010. -

-9.1.1 : An FHS exception has been granted for multiarch libraries. -Permitting files to instead be installed to /lib/triplet and -/usr/lib/triplet directories. -
-10.6 : Explicitly state that packages may not contain named pipes and -should instead create them in postinst and remove them in prerm or postrm. -
-9.1.1 : /sys and /selinux directories are explicitly allowed as an -exception to the FHS. - -

- -

3.8.3.0

- - -

-Released Aug 2009. -

-4.9 : Add DEB_*_ARCH_CPU and DEB_*_ARCH_OS variables and -recommend them over GNU-style variables for that information. -
-5.6.8: Source package Architecture fields may contain all in -combination with other architectures. Clarify when all and any -may be used in different versions of the field. -
-5.6.14 : The Debian archive software does not support uploading -to multiple distributions with one *.changes file. -
-5.6.19 : The Binary field may span multiple lines. -
-10.2 : Remove the permission for shared library packages to -install libraries in a non-standard location and modify ld.so.conf. -Packages should either be installed in a standard library directory -or packages using them should be built with RPATH. -
-11.8.7 : Clarify installation directories for X programs and -remove the requirement to pre-depend on x11-common before installing -into /usr/include/X11 and /usr/lib/X11. -
-12.1 : Remove the requirement that all characters in a manual -page be representable in the legacy encoding for that language. -
-12.1 : Localized man pages should either be kept up-to-date with -the original version or warn that they're not up-to-date, either -with warning text or by showing missing or changed portions in the -original language. -
-12.2 : install-info is now handled via triggers so packages no -longer need to invoke it in maintainer scripts. Info documents -should now have directory sections and entries in the document. -Packages containing info documents should add a dependency to -support partial upgrades. -
-perl : The requirement for Perl modules to have a versioned -Depend and Build-Depend on perl >= 5.6.0-16 has been removed. - -

- -

3.8.2.0

- - -

-Released Jun 2009. -

-2.4: The list of archive sections has been significantly expanded. See -http://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2009/03/msg00010.html -for the list of new sections and rules for how to categorize -packages. -
-3.9.1: All packages must use debconf or equivalent for user prompting, -though essential packages or their dependencies may also fall -back on other methods. -
-5.6.1: The requirements for source package names are now explicitly -spelled out. -
-9.1: Legacy XFree86 servers no longer get a special exception from the -FHS permitting /etc/X11/XF86Config-4. -
-9.1.3: Removed obsolete dependency requirements for packages that use -/var/mail. -
-11.8.5: Speedo fonts are now deprecated. The X backend was disabled -starting in lenny. -
-12.5: The GNU Free Documentation License version 1.3 is included in -common-licenses and should be referenced from there. - -

- -

3.8.1.0

- - -

-Released Mar 2009. -

-3.8: Care should be taken when adding functionality to essential and -such additions create an obligation to support that functionality -in essential forever unless significant work is done. -
-4.4: Changelog files must be encoded in UTF-8. -
-4.4: Tighten some format requirements for changelog files from a should -to a must. -
-4.4.1: Remove alternative changelog formats. Debian only supports one -changelog format for the Debian Archive. -
-4.9.1: New nocheck option for DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS indicating any build-time -test suite provided by the package should not be run. -
-5.1: All control files must be encoded in UTF-8. -
-5.2: debian/control allows comment lines starting with # with no -preceding whitespace. -
-9.3: Init scripts ending in .sh are not handled specially. They are not -sourced and are not guaranteed to be run by /bin/sh regardless of -the #! line. This brings Policy in line with the long-standing -behavior of the init system in Debian. -
-9.3.2: The start action of an init script must exit successfully and not -start the daemon again if it's already running. -
-9.3.2: /var/run and /var/lock may be mounted as temporary filesystems, -and init scripts must therefore create any necessary subdirectories -dynamically. -
-10.4: /bin/sh scripts may assume that local can take multiple variable -arguments and supports assignment. -
-11.6: User mailboxes may be mode 600 and owned by the user rather than -mode 660, owned by user, and group mail. - -

- -

3.8.0.0

- - -

-Released Jun 2008. -

-2.4, 3.7: 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. -
-4.9: 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. -
-4.9.1, 10.1: 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: 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 -
-4.13: Debian packages should not use convenience copies of code from other -packages unless the included package is explicitly intended to be -used that way. -
-4.14: 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. -
-5.6.3: The Uploaders field in debian/control may be wrapped. -
-5.6.12: An empty Debian revision is equivalent to a Debian revision of 0 in -a version number. -
-5.6.23: New Homepage field for upstream web sites. -
-6.5, 6.6, 7: 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. -
-8.1, 8.2: Clarify which files should go into a shared library package, into a -separate package, or into the -dev package. Suggest -tools instead -of -runtime for runtime support programs, since that naming is more -common in Debian. -
-9.5: Files in /etc/cron.{hourly,daily,weekly,monthly} must be -configuration files (upgraded from should). Mention the hourly -directory. -
-11.8.6: Packages providing /etc/X11/Xresources files need not conflict -with xbase (<< 3.3.2.3a-2), which is long-obsolete. -
-12.1: 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. -
-12.5: 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. -
-debconf: Underscore (_) is allowed in debconf template names. - -

- -

3.7.3.0

- - -

-Released Dec 2007. -

-5.6.12: Package version numbers may contain tildes, which sort before -anything, even the end of a part. -
-10.4: 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. -
-8.5: The substitution variable ${binary:Version} should be used in place -of ${Source-Version} for dependencies between packages of the same -library. -
-menu policy: 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. -
-5.6.1: The Source field in a .changes file may contain a version number -in parentheses. -
-5.6.17: The acceptable values for the Urgency field are low, medium, high, -critical, or emergency. -
-8.6: 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. -
-3.9.1: Packages following the Debian Configuration management -specification must allow for translation of their messages by using -a gettext-based system such as po-debconf. -
-12.5: GFDL 1.2, GPL 3, and LGPL 3 are now in common-licenses and should -be referenced rather than quoted in debian/copyright. - -

- -

3.7.2.2

- - -

-Released Oct 2006. -

-6.1: Maintainer scripts must not be world writeable (up from a -should to a must) - -

- -

3.7.2.0

- - -

-Released Apr 2006. -

-11.5: Revert the cgi-lib change. - -

- -

3.7.1.0

- - -

-Released Apr 2006. -

-10.2: 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. -
-11.8.7: 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) - -

- -

3.7.0.0

- - -

-Released Apr 2006. -

-11.5: 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. -
-9.1.1: 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. -
-5.1, 5.6.3: 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. -
-10.4: 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. - -
-9.3.3.2: 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. -
-11.8.5.2, 11.8.7, etc: 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. - - -

- -

3.6.2.0

- - -

-Released 2005 -

-Recommend. doc-base, and not menu, for registering package documentation. -
-8.1: 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). -
-11.5: It is recommended that HTTP servers provide an alias /images to -allow packages to share image files with the web server - -

- -

3.6.1.0

- - -

-Released Aug 2003. -

-3.10.1: Prompting the user should be done using debconf. Non debconf -user prompts are now deprecated. - -

- -

3.6.0

- - -

-Released 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. -
-menu policy: Added Games/Simulation and Apps/Education to menu -sub-policy -
-C.2.2: Debian changelogs should be UTF-8 encoded. -
-10.2: shared libraries must be linked against all libraries that they -use symbols from in the same way that binaries are. -
-7.6: build-depends-indep need not be satisfied during clean -target. - -

- -

3.5.10

- - -

-Released May 2003. -

-11.8.3: packages providing the x-terminal-emulator virtual package -ought to ensure that they interpret the command line exactly -like xterm does. -
-11.8.4: Window managers compliant with the Window Manager Specification -Project may add 40 points for ranking in the alternatives - -

- -

3.5.9.0

- - -

-Released Mar 2003. -

-3.4.2: The section describing the Description: package field once again has -full details of the long description format. -
-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). -
-9.3.2: When asked to restart a service that isn't already running, -the init script should start the service. -
-12.6: If the purpose of a package is to provide examples, then the -example files can be installed into /usr/share/doc/package (rather -than /usr/share/doc/package/examples). - -

- -

3.5.8.0

- - -

-Released Nov 2002. -

-12.7: 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. -
-7.6: Build-Depends, Build-Conflicts, Build-Depends-Indep, -and Build-Conflicts-Indep must also be satisfied when the clean -target is called. -
-menu policy: A new Apps/Science menu section is available -
-debconf policy: debconf specification cleared up, various changes. -
-12.1: It is no longer recommended to create symlinks from nonexistent -manual pages to undocumented(7). Missing manual pages for programs -are still a bug. - -

- -

3.5.7.0

- - -

-Released Aug 2002. -

-Packages no longer have to ask permission to call MAKEDEV in -postinst, merely notifying the user ought to be enough. -
-2.2.4: cryptographic software may now be included in the main -archive. -
-3.9: task packages are no longer permitted; tasks are now created by a -special Tasks: field in the control file. -
-11.8.4: window managers that support netwm can now add 20 points when -they add themselves as an alternative for -/usr/bin/x-window-manager -
-10.1: 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. -
-7.6, 4.8: 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. -
-8: Changed rules on how, and when, to invoke ldconfig in maintainer -scripts. Long rationale. - -
-Added the last note in 3.5.6 upgrading checklist item regarding build rules, please see below -
-

- -

3.5.6.0

- - -

-Released Jul 2001. -

-2.5: Emacs and TeX are no longer mandated by policy to be priority -standard packages -
-11.5: Programs that access docs need to do so via /usr/share/doc, and -not via /usr/doc/ as was the policy previously -
-12.3: Putting documentation in /usr/doc versus /usr/share/doc is now -a ``serious'' policy violation. -
-11.5: 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. -
-7: There are new rules for build-indep/build-arch targets and -there is a new Build-Depend-Indep semantic. - -

- -

3.5.5.0

- - -

-Released May 2001. -

-12.1: Manpages should not rely on header information to have -alternative manpage names available; it should only use -symlinks or .so pages to do this -
-*Clarified note in 3.5.3.0 upgrading checklist regarding -examples and templates: this refers only to those examples used -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! -
-10.2: Plugins are no longer bound by all the rules of shared -libraries -
-X Windows related things: -
- -11.8.1: Clarification of priority levels of X Window System related -packages -
- -11.8.3: Rules for defining x-terminal-emulator improved -
- -11.8.5: X Font policy rewritten: you must read this if you provide -fonts for the X Window System -
- -11.8.6: Packages must not ship /usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/ -
- -11.8.7: X-related packages should usually use the regular FHS -locations; imake-using packages are exempted from this -
- -11.8.8: OpenMotif linked binaries have the same rules as -OSF/Motif-linked ones - -
-

- -

3.5.4.0

- - -

-Released Apr 2001. -

-11.6: 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 -
-11.9; perl-policy: The perl policy is now part of Debian policy -proper. Perl programs and modules should follow the current Perl -policy - - -

- -

3.5.3.0

- - -

-Apr 2001 -

-7.1: Build-Depends arch syntax has been changed to be less -ambiguous. This should not affect any current packages -
-10.7.3: 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 - -

- -

3.5.2.0

- - -

-Released Feb 2001. -

-11.8.6: X app-defaults directory has moved from -/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults to /etc/X11/app-defaults - -

- -

3.5.1.0

- - -

-Released Feb 2001. -

-8.1: dpkg-shlibdeps now uses objdump, so shared libraries have to be -run through dpkg-shlibdeps as well as executables - -

- -

3.5.0.0

- - -

-Released Jan 2001. -

-11.8.5: Font packages for the X Window System must now declare a -dependency on xutils (>= 4.0.2) - -

- -

3.2.1.1

- - -

-Released Jan 2001. -

-9.3.2: Daemon startup scripts in /etc/init.d/ should not contain -modifiable parameters; these should be moved to a file in -/etc/default/ -
-12.3: 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>/ -
-Much of the packaging manual has now been imported into the -policy document - -

- -

3.2.1.0

- - -

-Released Aug 00. -

-11.8.1: A package of priority standard or higher may provide two -binaries, one compiled with support for the X Window System, -and the other without - -

- -

3.2.0.0

- - -

-Released Aug 00. -

-10.1: 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 -
-12.8: 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 -
-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: -
- -11.8.2: X server (virtual package xserver) -
- -11.8.3: X terminal emulator (virtual package x-terminal-emulator) -
- -11.8.4: X window manager (virtual package x-window-manager, and -/usr/bin/x-window-manager alternative, with priority -calculation guidelines) -
- -12.8.5: X fonts (this section has been written from scratch) -
- -11.8.6: X application defaults -
-
-11.8.7: Policy for packages using the X Window System and FHS issues -has been clarified -
-11.7.3: No package may contain or make hard links to conffiles -
-8: 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 - -

- -

3.1.1.0

- - -

-Released Nov 1999. -

-7.1: Correction to semantics of architecture lists in Build-Depends -etc. Should not affect many packages - -

- -

3.1.0.0

- - -

-Released 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 defunct -
-7.1, 7.6: Introduced source dependencies (Build-Depends, etc.) -
-9.3.4: /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) -
-9.3.3: 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.) -
-12.7: 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 -
-9.1.1: Updated FHS to a 2.1 draft; this reverts /var/state to -/var/lib -
-9.7; mime-policy: Added MIME sub-policy document -
-12.4: VISUAL is allowed as a (higher priority) alternative to EDITOR -
-11.6: Modified liblockfile description, which affects -mailbox-accessing programs. Please see the policy document for -details -
-12.7: 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.) -
-3.2.1: Description of how to handle version numbers based on dates -added - -

- -

3.0.1.0

- - -

-Released Jul 1999. -

-10.2: 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 - -

- -

3.0.0.0

- - -

-Released Jun 1999. -

-9.1: 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. -
-4.1: Only 3 digits of the Standards version need be included in -control files, though all four digits are still permitted. -
-12.6: 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 -
-10.2: Packages that use libtool to create shared libraries must -include the .la files in the -dev packages -
-10.8: Use logrotate to rotate log files -
-11.8: section 5.8 (now 11.8) has been rewritten (Programs for the X Window -System) -
-9.6; menu-policy: There is now an associated menu policy, in a separate document, -that carries the full weight of Debian policy -
-11.3: Programs which need to modify the files /var/run/utmp, -/var/log/wtmp and /var/log/lastlog must be installed setgid utmp - - -
-Please note that section numbers below this point may not be up to date -
- -

- -

2.5.0.0

- - -

-Released Oct 1998. -

-Policy Manual: -

-Rearranged the manual to create a new Section 4, Files -
- -Section 3.3 ("Files") was moved to Section 4. The Sections -that were Section 4 and Section 5 were moved down to become -Section 5 and Section 6. -
- -What was Section 5.5 ("Log files") is now a subsection of the -new Section 4 ("Files"), becoming section 4.8, placed after -"Configuration files", moving the Section 4.8 ("Permissions -and owners") to Section 4.9. All subsections of the old -Section 5 after 5.5 were moved down to fill in the number -gap. -
-
-Modified the section about changelog files to accommodate -upstream changelogs which were formatted as HTML. These -upstream changelog files should now be accessible as -/usr/doc/package/changelog.html.gz -
- -Symlinks are permissible to link the real, or upstream, -changelog name to the Debian mandated name. -
-
-Clarified that HTML documentation should be present in some -package, though not necessarily the main binary package. -
-Corrected all references to the location of the copyright -files. The correct location is /usr/doc/package/copyright -
-Ratified the architecture specification strings to cater to the -HURD. - -

- -

2.4.1.0

- - -

-Released Apr 1998. -

Policy Manual:
-
- -Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic links: -
  - -symbolic links within a toplevel directory should be relative, -symbolic links between toplevel directories should be absolute -(cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 2) - -
  -
- -Updated section 4.9 Games: -
  - -manpages for games should be installed in /usr/man/man6 -(cf., Policy Weekly Issue#6, topic 3) - -
  -
-
Packaging Manual:
-
- -Updated prefix of chapter 12, Shared Libraries: -ldconfig must be called in the postinst script if the package -installs shared libraries -(cf., Policy Weekly Issue #6, fixes:bug#20515) - -
-

- -

2.4.0.0

- - -

-Released Jan 1998 -

-Updated section 3.3.4 Scripts: -
- -/bin/sh may be any POSIX compatible shell -
- -scripts including bashisms have to specify /bin/bash as -interpreter -
- -scripts which create files in world-writable directories -(e.g., in /tmp) should use tempfile or mktemp for creating -the directory - -
-
-Updated section 3.3.5 Symbolic Links: -
- -symbolic links referencing compressed files must have the same -file extension as the referenced file - -
-
-Updated section 3.3.6 Device files: -
- -/dev/tty* serial devices should be used instead of /dev/cu* - -
-
-Updated section 3.4.2 Writing the scripts in /etc/init.d: -
- -all /etc/init.d scripts have to provide the following options: -start, stop, restart, force-reload -
- -the reload option is optional and must never stop and restart -the service - -
-
-Updated section 3.5 Cron jobs: -
- -cron jobs that need to be executed more often than daily should -be installed into /etc/cron.d - -
-
-Updated section 3.7 Menus: -
- -removed section about how to register HTML docs to `menu' -(the corresponding section in 4.4, Web servers and applications, -has been removed in policy 2.2.0.0 already, so this one was -obsolete) - -
-
-New section 3.8 Keyboard configuration: -
- -details about how the backspace and delete keys should be -handled - -
-
-New section 3.9 Environment variables: -
- -no program must depend on environment variables to get a -reasonable default configuration - -
-
-New section 4.6 News system configuration: -
- -/etc/news/organization and /etc/news/server should be supported -by all news servers and clients - -
-
-Updated section 4.7 Programs for the X Window System: -
- -programs requiring a non-free Motif library should be provided -as foo-smotif and foo-dmotif package -
- -if lesstif works reliably for such program, it should be linked -against lesstif and not against a non-free Motif library - -
-
-Updated section 4.9 Games: -
- -games for X Windows have to be installed in /usr/games, just as -non-X games - -
-

- -

2.3.0.1, 2.3.0.0

- - -

-Released Sep 1997. -

-new section `4.2 Daemons' including rules for -/etc/services, /etc/protocols, /etc/rpc, and /etc/inetd.conf - -
-updated section about `Configuration files': -packages may not touch other packages' configuration files - -
-MUAs and MTAs have to use liblockfile - -

- -

2.2.0.0

- - -

-Released July 1997. -

-added section 4.1 `Architecture specification strings': -use -<arch>-linux -where <arch> is one of the following: -i386, alpha, arm, m68k, powerpc, sparc. - -
-detailed rules for /usr/local - -
-user ID's - -
-editor/pager policy - -
-cron jobs - -
-device files - -
-don't install shared libraries as executable - -
-app-defaults files may not be conffiles - -

- -

2.1.3.2, 2.1.3.1, 2.1.3.0

- - -

-Released Mar 1997. -

-two programs with different functionality must not have the -same name - -
-"Webstandard 3.0" - -
-"Standard for Console Messages" - -
-Libraries should be compiled with `-D_REENTRANT' - -
-Libraries should be stripped with "strip –strip-unneeded" - -

- -

2.1.2.2, 2.1.2.1, 2.1.2.0

- - -

-Released Nov 1996. -

-Some changes WRT shared libraries - -

- -

2.1.1.0

- - -

-Released Sep 1996. -

-No hard links in source packages - -
-Do not use dpkg-divert or update-alternatives without consultation - -
-Shared libraries must be installed stripped - -

- -

2.1.0.0

- - -

-Released Aug 1996. -

-Upstream changelog must be installed too -

Author: Bill Allombert, Josip Rodin, Julian Gilbey, Russ Allbery, and Manoj Srivastava -<srivasta@debian.org> -

Date: 2010-01-26 13:43:10 CET

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