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<title>Debian Policy Manual - Source packages</title>

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<link href="ch-scope.html" rel="chapter" title="1 About this manual">
<link href="ch-archive.html" rel="chapter" title="2 The Debian Archive">
<link href="ch-binary.html" rel="chapter" title="3 Binary packages">
<link href="ch-source.html" rel="chapter" title="4 Source packages">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html" rel="chapter" title="5 Control files and their fields">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html" rel="chapter" title="6 Package maintainer scripts and installation procedure">
<link href="ch-relationships.html" rel="chapter" title="7 Declaring relationships between packages">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html" rel="chapter" title="8 Shared libraries">
<link href="ch-opersys.html" rel="chapter" title="9 The Operating System">
<link href="ch-files.html" rel="chapter" title="10 Files">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html" rel="chapter" title="11 Customized programs">
<link href="ch-docs.html" rel="chapter" title="12 Documentation">
<link href="ap-pkg-scope.html" rel="appendix" title="A Introduction and scope of these appendices">
<link href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html" rel="appendix" title="B Binary packages (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html" rel="appendix" title="C Source packages (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html" rel="appendix" title="D Control files and their fields (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ap-pkg-conffiles.html" rel="appendix" title="E Configuration file handling (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ap-pkg-alternatives.html" rel="appendix" title="F Alternative versions of an interface - update-alternatives (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ap-pkg-diversions.html" rel="appendix" title="G Diversions - overriding a package's version of a file (from old Packaging Manual)">
<link href="ch-scope.html#s1.1" rel="section" title="1.1 Scope">
<link href="ch-scope.html#s1.2" rel="section" title="1.2 New versions of this document">
<link href="ch-scope.html#s-authors" rel="section" title="1.3 Authors and Maintainers">
<link href="ch-scope.html#s-related" rel="section" title="1.4 Related documents">
<link href="ch-scope.html#s-definitions" rel="section" title="1.5 Definitions">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-dfsg" rel="section" title="2.1 The Debian Free Software Guidelines">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-sections" rel="section" title="2.2 Archive areas">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-pkgcopyright" rel="section" title="2.3 Copyright considerations">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-subsections" rel="section" title="2.4 Sections">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-priorities" rel="section" title="2.5 Priorities">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s3.1" rel="section" title="3.1 The package name">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-versions" rel="section" title="3.2 The version of a package">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-maintainer" rel="section" title="3.3 The maintainer of a package">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-descriptions" rel="section" title="3.4 The description of a package">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-dependencies" rel="section" title="3.5 Dependencies">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-virtual_pkg" rel="section" title="3.6 Virtual packages">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s3.7" rel="section" title="3.7 Base system">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s3.8" rel="section" title="3.8 Essential packages">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-maintscripts" rel="section" title="3.9 Maintainer Scripts">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-standardsversion" rel="section" title="4.1 Standards conformance">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-pkg-relations" rel="section" title="4.2 Package relationships">
<link href="ch-source.html#s4.3" rel="section" title="4.3 Changes to the upstream sources">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-dpkgchangelog" rel="section" title="4.4 Debian changelog: debian/changelog">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-dpkgcopyright" rel="section" title="4.5 Copyright: debian/copyright">
<link href="ch-source.html#s4.6" rel="section" title="4.6 Error trapping in makefiles">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-timestamps" rel="section" title="4.7 Time Stamps">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-restrictions" rel="section" title="4.8 Restrictions on objects in source packages">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-debianrules" rel="section" title="4.9 Main building script: debian/rules">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-substvars" rel="section" title="4.10 Variable substitutions: debian/substvars">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-debianwatch" rel="section" title="4.11 Optional upstream source location: debian/watch">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-debianfiles" rel="section" title="4.12 Generated files list: debian/files">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-embeddedfiles" rel="section" title="4.13 Convenience copies of code">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-readmesource" rel="section" title="4.14 Source package handling: debian/README.source">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-controlsyntax" rel="section" title="5.1 Syntax of control files">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-sourcecontrolfiles" rel="section" title="5.2 Source package control files -- debian/control">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-binarycontrolfiles" rel="section" title="5.3 Binary package control files -- DEBIAN/control">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-debiansourcecontrolfiles" rel="section" title="5.4 Debian source control files -- .dsc">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-debianchangesfiles" rel="section" title="5.5 Debian changes files -- .changes">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-controlfieldslist" rel="section" title="5.6 List of fields">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s5.7" rel="section" title="5.7 User-defined fields">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s6.1" rel="section" title="6.1 Introduction to package maintainer scripts">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-idempotency" rel="section" title="6.2 Maintainer scripts idempotency">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-controllingterminal" rel="section" title="6.3 Controlling terminal for maintainer scripts">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-exitstatus" rel="section" title="6.4 Exit status">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-mscriptsinstact" rel="section" title="6.5 Summary of ways maintainer scripts are called">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-unpackphase" rel="section" title="6.6 Details of unpack phase of installation or upgrade">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-configdetails" rel="section" title="6.7 Details of configuration">
<link href="ch-maintainerscripts.html#s-removedetails" rel="section" title="6.8 Details of removal and/or configuration purging">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-depsyntax" rel="section" title="7.1 Syntax of relationship fields">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-binarydeps" rel="section" title="7.2 Binary Dependencies - Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Enhances, Pre-Depends">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-breaks" rel="section" title="7.3 Packages which break other packages - Breaks">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-conflicts" rel="section" title="7.4 Conflicting binary packages - Conflicts">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-virtual" rel="section" title="7.5 Virtual packages - Provides">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-replaces" rel="section" title="7.6 Overwriting files and replacing packages - Replaces">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s-sourcebinarydeps" rel="section" title="7.7 Relationships between source and binary packages - Build-Depends, Build-Depends-Indep, Build-Conflicts, Build-Conflicts-Indep">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-runtime" rel="section" title="8.1 Run-time shared libraries">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-support-files" rel="section" title="8.2 Shared library support files">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-static" rel="section" title="8.3 Static libraries">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-dev" rel="section" title="8.4 Development files">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-intradeps" rel="section" title="8.5 Dependencies between the packages of the same library">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-sharedlibs-shlibdeps" rel="section" title="8.6 Dependencies between the library and other packages - the shlibs system">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.1" rel="section" title="9.1 File system hierarchy">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.2" rel="section" title="9.2 Users and groups">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-sysvinit" rel="section" title="9.3 System run levels and init.d scripts">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.4" rel="section" title="9.4 Console messages from init.d scripts">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-cron-jobs" rel="section" title="9.5 Cron jobs">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-menus" rel="section" title="9.6 Menus">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-mime" rel="section" title="9.7 Multimedia handlers">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.8" rel="section" title="9.8 Keyboard configuration">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.9" rel="section" title="9.9 Environment variables">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-doc-base" rel="section" title="9.10 Registering Documents using doc-base">
<link href="ch-files.html#s-binaries" rel="section" title="10.1 Binaries">
<link href="ch-files.html#s-libraries" rel="section" title="10.2 Libraries">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.3" rel="section" title="10.3 Shared libraries">
<link href="ch-files.html#s-scripts" rel="section" title="10.4 Scripts">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.5" rel="section" title="10.5 Symbolic links">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.6" rel="section" title="10.6 Device files">
<link href="ch-files.html#s-config-files" rel="section" title="10.7 Configuration files">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.8" rel="section" title="10.8 Log files">
<link href="ch-files.html#s-permissions-owners" rel="section" title="10.9 Permissions and owners">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-arch-spec" rel="section" title="11.1 Architecture specification strings">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.2" rel="section" title="11.2 Daemons">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.3" rel="section" title="11.3 Using pseudo-ttys and modifying wtmp, utmp and lastlog">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.4" rel="section" title="11.4 Editors and pagers">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-web-appl" rel="section" title="11.5 Web servers and applications">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-mail-transport-agents" rel="section" title="11.6 Mail transport, delivery and user agents">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.7" rel="section" title="11.7 News system configuration">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8" rel="section" title="11.8 Programs for the X Window System">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-perl" rel="section" title="11.9 Perl programs and modules">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-emacs" rel="section" title="11.10 Emacs lisp programs">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.11" rel="section" title="11.11 Games">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s12.1" rel="section" title="12.1 Manual pages">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s12.2" rel="section" title="12.2 Info documents">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s12.3" rel="section" title="12.3 Additional documentation">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s12.4" rel="section" title="12.4 Preferred documentation formats">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s-copyrightfile" rel="section" title="12.5 Copyright information">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s12.6" rel="section" title="12.6 Examples">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s-changelogs" rel="section" title="12.7 Changelog files">
<link href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html#s-pkg-bincreating" rel="section" title="B.1 Creating package files - dpkg-deb">
<link href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html#s-pkg-controlarea" rel="section" title="B.2 Package control information files">
<link href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html#s-pkg-controlfile" rel="section" title="B.3 The main control information file: control">
<link href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html#sB.4" rel="section" title="B.4 Time Stamps">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-sourcetools" rel="section" title="C.1 Tools for processing source packages">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-sourcetree" rel="section" title="C.2 The Debian package source tree">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-sourcearchives" rel="section" title="C.3 Source packages as archives">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#sC.4" rel="section" title="C.4 Unpacking a Debian source package without dpkg-source">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#sD.1" rel="section" title="D.1 Syntax of control files">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#sD.2" rel="section" title="D.2 List of fields">
<link href="ap-pkg-conffiles.html#sE.1" rel="section" title="E.1 Automatic handling of configuration files by dpkg">
<link href="ap-pkg-conffiles.html#sE.2" rel="section" title="E.2 Fully-featured maintainer script configuration handling">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-main" rel="subsection" title="2.2.1 The main archive area">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-contrib" rel="subsection" title="2.2.2 The contrib archive area">
<link href="ch-archive.html#s-non-free" rel="subsection" title="2.2.3 The non-free archive area">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s3.2.1" rel="subsection" title="3.2.1 Version numbers based on dates">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-synopsis" rel="subsection" title="3.4.1 The single line synopsis">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-extendeddesc" rel="subsection" title="3.4.2 The extended description">
<link href="ch-binary.html#s-maintscriptprompt" rel="subsection" title="3.9.1 Prompting in maintainer scripts">
<link href="ch-source.html#s-debianrules-options" rel="subsection" title="4.9.1 debian/rules and DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Source" rel="subsection" title="5.6.1 Source">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Maintainer" rel="subsection" title="5.6.2 Maintainer">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Uploaders" rel="subsection" title="5.6.3 Uploaders">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Changed-By" rel="subsection" title="5.6.4 Changed-By">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Section" rel="subsection" title="5.6.5 Section">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Priority" rel="subsection" title="5.6.6 Priority">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Package" rel="subsection" title="5.6.7 Package">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Architecture" rel="subsection" title="5.6.8 Architecture">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Essential" rel="subsection" title="5.6.9 Essential">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s5.6.10" rel="subsection" title="5.6.10 Package interrelationship fields: Depends, Pre-Depends, Recommends, Suggests, Breaks, Conflicts, Provides, Replaces, Enhances">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Standards-Version" rel="subsection" title="5.6.11 Standards-Version">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Version" rel="subsection" title="5.6.12 Version">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Description" rel="subsection" title="5.6.13 Description">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Distribution" rel="subsection" title="5.6.14 Distribution">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Date" rel="subsection" title="5.6.15 Date">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Format" rel="subsection" title="5.6.16 Format">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Urgency" rel="subsection" title="5.6.17 Urgency">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Changes" rel="subsection" title="5.6.18 Changes">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Binary" rel="subsection" title="5.6.19 Binary">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Installed-Size" rel="subsection" title="5.6.20 Installed-Size">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Files" rel="subsection" title="5.6.21 Files">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Closes" rel="subsection" title="5.6.22 Closes">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Homepage" rel="subsection" title="5.6.23 Homepage">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Checksums" rel="subsection" title="5.6.24 Checksums-Sha1 and Checksums-Sha256">
<link href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-DM-Upload-Allowed" rel="subsection" title="5.6.25 DM-Upload-Allowed">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s7.6.1" rel="subsection" title="7.6.1 Overwriting files in other packages">
<link href="ch-relationships.html#s7.6.2" rel="subsection" title="7.6.2 Replacing whole packages, forcing their removal">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-ldconfig" rel="subsection" title="8.1.1 ldconfig">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s8.6.1" rel="subsection" title="8.6.1 The shlibs files present on the system">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s8.6.2" rel="subsection" title="8.6.2 How to use dpkg-shlibdeps and the shlibs files">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s-shlibs" rel="subsection" title="8.6.3 The shlibs File Format">
<link href="ch-sharedlibs.html#s8.6.4" rel="subsection" title="8.6.4 Providing a shlibs file">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-fhs" rel="subsection" title="9.1.1 File System Structure">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.1.2" rel="subsection" title="9.1.2 Site-specific programs">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.1.3" rel="subsection" title="9.1.3 The system-wide mail directory">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-fhs-run" rel="subsection" title="9.1.4 /run and /run/lock">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.2.1" rel="subsection" title="9.2.1 Introduction">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.2.2" rel="subsection" title="9.2.2 UID and GID classes">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-/etc/init.d" rel="subsection" title="9.3.1 Introduction">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-writing-init" rel="subsection" title="9.3.2 Writing the scripts">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.3.3" rel="subsection" title="9.3.3 Interfacing with the initscript system">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.3.3.1" rel="subsection" title="9.3.3.1 Managing the links">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.3.3.2" rel="subsection" title="9.3.3.2 Running initscripts">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.3.4" rel="subsection" title="9.3.4 Boot-time initialization">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s9.3.5" rel="subsection" title="9.3.5 Example">
<link href="ch-opersys.html#s-cron-files" rel="subsection" title="9.5.1 Cron job file names">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.7.1" rel="subsection" title="10.7.1 Definitions">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.7.2" rel="subsection" title="10.7.2 Location">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.7.3" rel="subsection" title="10.7.3 Behavior">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.7.4" rel="subsection" title="10.7.4 Sharing configuration files">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.7.5" rel="subsection" title="10.7.5 User configuration files (&quot;dotfiles&quot;)">
<link href="ch-files.html#s10.9.1" rel="subsection" title="10.9.1 The use of dpkg-statoverride">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-arch-wildcard-spec" rel="subsection" title="11.1.1 Architecture wildcards">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.1" rel="subsection" title="11.8.1 Providing X support and package priorities">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.2" rel="subsection" title="11.8.2 Packages providing an X server">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.3" rel="subsection" title="11.8.3 Packages providing a terminal emulator">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.4" rel="subsection" title="11.8.4 Packages providing a window manager">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.5" rel="subsection" title="11.8.5 Packages providing fonts">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-appdefaults" rel="subsection" title="11.8.6 Application defaults files">
<link href="ch-customized-programs.html#s11.8.7" rel="subsection" title="11.8.7 Installation directory issues">
<link href="ch-docs.html#s-copyrightformat" rel="subsection" title="12.5.1 Machine-readable copyright information">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-source" rel="subsection" title="C.1.1 dpkg-source - packs and unpacks Debian source packages">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-buildpackage" rel="subsection" title="C.1.2 dpkg-buildpackage - overall package-building control script">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-gencontrol" rel="subsection" title="C.1.3 dpkg-gencontrol - generates binary package control files">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-shlibdeps" rel="subsection" title="C.1.4 dpkg-shlibdeps - calculates shared library dependencies">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-distaddfile" rel="subsection" title="C.1.5 dpkg-distaddfile - adds a file to debian/files">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-genchanges" rel="subsection" title="C.1.6 dpkg-genchanges - generates a .changes upload control file">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-parsechangelog" rel="subsection" title="C.1.7 dpkg-parsechangelog - produces parsed representation of a changelog">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-architecture" rel="subsection" title="C.1.8 dpkg-architecture - information about the build and host system">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-debianrules" rel="subsection" title="C.2.1 debian/rules - the main building script">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-srcsubstvars" rel="subsection" title="C.2.2 debian/substvars and variable substitutions">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#sC.2.3" rel="subsection" title="C.2.3 debian/files">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#sC.2.4" rel="subsection" title="C.2.4 debian/tmp">
<link href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#sC.4.1" rel="subsection" title="C.4.1 Restrictions on objects in source packages">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#s-pkg-f-Filename" rel="subsection" title="D.2.1 Filename and MSDOS-Filename">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#s-pkg-f-Size" rel="subsection" title="D.2.2 Size and MD5sum">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#s-pkg-f-Status" rel="subsection" title="D.2.3 Status">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#s-pkg-f-Config-Version" rel="subsection" title="D.2.4 Config-Version">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#s-pkg-f-Conffiles" rel="subsection" title="D.2.5 Conffiles">
<link href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html#sD.2.6" rel="subsection" title="D.2.6 Obsolete fields">

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</p>

<hr>

<h1>
Debian Policy Manual
<br>Chapter 4 - Source packages
</h1>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-standardsversion"></a>4.1 Standards conformance</h2>

<p>
Source packages should specify the most recent version number of this policy
document with which your package complied when it was last updated.
</p>

<p>
This information may be used to file bug reports automatically if your package
becomes too much out of date.
</p>

<p>
The version is specified in the <samp>Standards-Version</samp> control field.
The format of the <samp>Standards-Version</samp> field is described in <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Standards-Version"><samp>Standards-Version</samp>,
Section 5.6.11</a>.
</p>

<p>
You should regularly, and especially if your package has become out of date,
check for the newest Policy Manual available and update your package, if
necessary.  When your package complies with the new standards you should update
the <samp>Standards-Version</samp> source package field and release it.[<a
href="footnotes.html#f12" name="fr12">12</a>]
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-pkg-relations"></a>4.2 Package relationships</h2>

<p>
Source packages should specify which binary packages they require to be
installed or not to be installed in order to build correctly.  For example, if
building a package requires a certain compiler, then the compiler should be
specified as a build-time dependency.
</p>

<p>
It is not necessary to explicitly specify build-time relationships on a minimal
set of packages that are always needed to compile, link and put in a Debian
package a standard &quot;Hello World!&quot; program written in C or C++.  The
required packages are called <em>build-essential</em>, and an informational
list can be found in <code>/usr/share/doc/build-essential/list</code> (which is
contained in the <samp>build-essential</samp> package).[<a
href="footnotes.html#f13" name="fr13">13</a>]
</p>

<p>
When specifying the set of build-time dependencies, one should list only those
packages explicitly required by the build.  It is not necessary to list
packages which are required merely because some other package in the list of
build-time dependencies depends on them.[<a href="footnotes.html#f14"
name="fr14">14</a>]
</p>

<p>
If build-time dependencies are specified, it must be possible to build the
package and produce working binaries on a system with only essential and
build-essential packages installed and also those required to satisfy the
build-time relationships (including any implied relationships).  In particular,
this means that version clauses should be used rigorously in build-time
relationships so that one cannot produce bad or inconsistently configured
packages when the relationships are properly satisfied.
</p>

<p>
<a href="ch-relationships.html">Declaring relationships between packages,
Chapter 7</a> explains the technical details.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s4.3"></a>4.3 Changes to the upstream sources</h2>

<p>
If changes to the source code are made that are not specific to the needs of
the Debian system, they should be sent to the upstream authors in whatever form
they prefer so as to be included in the upstream version of the package.
</p>

<p>
If you need to configure the package differently for Debian or for Linux, and
the upstream source doesn't provide a way to do so, you should add such
configuration facilities (for example, a new <code>autoconf</code> test or
<samp>#define</samp>) and send the patch to the upstream authors, with the
default set to the way they originally had it.  You can then easily override
the default in your <code>debian/rules</code> or wherever is appropriate.
</p>

<p>
You should make sure that the <code>configure</code> utility detects the
correct architecture specification string (refer to <a
href="ch-customized-programs.html#s-arch-spec">Architecture specification
strings, Section 11.1</a> for details).
</p>

<p>
If you need to edit a <code>Makefile</code> where GNU-style
<code>configure</code> scripts are used, you should edit the <code>.in</code>
files rather than editing the <code>Makefile</code> directly.  This allows the
user to reconfigure the package if necessary.  You should <em>not</em>
configure the package and edit the generated <code>Makefile</code>!  This makes
it impossible for someone else to later reconfigure the package without losing
the changes you made.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-dpkgchangelog"></a>4.4 Debian changelog: <code>debian/changelog</code></h2>

<p>
Changes in the Debian version of the package should be briefly explained in the
Debian changelog file <code>debian/changelog</code>.[<a
href="footnotes.html#f15" name="fr15">15</a>] This includes modifications made
in the Debian package compared to the upstream one as well as other changes and
updates to the package.  [<a href="footnotes.html#f16" name="fr16">16</a>]
</p>

<p>
The format of the <code>debian/changelog</code> allows the package building
tools to discover which version of the package is being built and find out
other release-specific information.
</p>

<p>
That format is a series of entries like this:
</p>
<pre>
     <var>package</var> (<var>version</var>) <var>distribution(s)</var>; urgency=<var>urgency</var>
     	    <var>[optional blank line(s), stripped]</var>
       * <var>change details</var>
         <var>more change details</var>
     	    <var>[blank line(s), included in output of dpkg-parsechangelog]</var>
       * <var>even more change details</var>
     	    <var>[optional blank line(s), stripped]</var>
      -- <var>maintainer name</var> &lt;<var>email address</var>&gt;<var>[two spaces]</var>  <var>date</var>
</pre>

<p>
<var>package</var> and <var>version</var> are the source package name and
version number.
</p>

<p>
<var>distribution(s)</var> lists the distributions where this version should be
installed when it is uploaded - it is copied to the <samp>Distribution</samp>
field in the <code>.changes</code> file.  See <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Distribution"><samp>Distribution</samp>,
Section 5.6.14</a>.
</p>

<p>
<var>urgency</var> is the value for the <samp>Urgency</samp> field in the
<code>.changes</code> file for the upload (see <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Urgency"><samp>Urgency</samp>, Section
5.6.17</a>).  It is not possible to specify an urgency containing commas;
commas are used to separate <samp><var>keyword</var>=<var>value</var></samp>
settings in the <code>dpkg</code> changelog format (though there is currently
only one useful <var>keyword</var>, <samp>urgency</samp>).
</p>

<p>
The change details may in fact be any series of lines starting with at least
two spaces, but conventionally each change starts with an asterisk and a
separating space and continuation lines are indented so as to bring them in
line with the start of the text above.  Blank lines may be used here to
separate groups of changes, if desired.
</p>

<p>
If this upload resolves bugs recorded in the Bug Tracking System (BTS), they
may be automatically closed on the inclusion of this package into the Debian
archive by including the string: <samp>closes: Bug#<var>nnnnn</var></samp> in
the change details.[<a href="footnotes.html#f17" name="fr17">17</a>] This
information is conveyed via the <samp>Closes</samp> field in the
<samp>.changes</samp> file (see <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Closes"><samp>Closes</samp>, Section
5.6.22</a>).
</p>

<p>
The maintainer name and email address used in the changelog should be the
details of the person uploading <em>this</em> version.  They are <em>not</em>
necessarily those of the usual package maintainer.[<a href="footnotes.html#f18"
name="fr18">18</a>] The information here will be copied to the
<samp>Changed-By</samp> field in the <samp>.changes</samp> file (see <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-f-Changed-By"><samp>Changed-By</samp>, Section
5.6.4</a>), and then later used to send an acknowledgement when the upload has
been installed.
</p>

<p>
The <var>date</var> has the following format[<a href="footnotes.html#f19"
name="fr19">19</a>] (compatible and with the same semantics of RFC 2822 and RFC
5322):
</p>

<pre>
     day-of-week, dd month yyyy hh:mm:ss +zzzz
</pre>

<p>
where:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
day-of week is one of: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
dd is a one- or two-digit day of the month (01-31)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
month is one of: Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
yyyy is the four-digit year (e.g.  2010)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
hh is the two-digit hour (00-23)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
mm is the two-digit minutes (00-59)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
ss is the two-digit seconds (00-60)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
+zzzz or -zzzz is the the time zone offset from Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC).  &quot;+&quot; indicates that the time is ahead of (i.e., east of) UTC
and &quot;-&quot; indicates that the time is behind (i.e., west of) UTC.  The
first two digits indicate the hour difference from UTC and the last two digits
indicate the number of additional minutes difference from UTC.  The last two
digits must be in the range 00-59.
</p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>
The first &quot;title&quot; line with the package name must start at the left
hand margin.  The &quot;trailer&quot; line with the maintainer and date details
must be preceded by exactly one space.  The maintainer details and the date
must be separated by exactly two spaces.
</p>

<p>
The entire changelog must be encoded in UTF-8.
</p>

<p>
For more information on placement of the changelog files within binary
packages, please see <a href="ch-docs.html#s-changelogs">Changelog files,
Section 12.7</a>.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-dpkgcopyright"></a>4.5 Copyright: <code>debian/copyright</code></h2>

<p>
Every package must be accompanied by a verbatim copy of its copyright
information and distribution license in the file
<code>/usr/share/doc/<var>package</var>/copyright</code> (see <a
href="ch-docs.html#s-copyrightfile">Copyright information, Section 12.5</a> for
further details).  Also see <a href="ch-archive.html#s-pkgcopyright">Copyright
considerations, Section 2.3</a> for further considerations related to
copyrights for packages.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s4.6"></a>4.6 Error trapping in makefiles</h2>

<p>
When <code>make</code> invokes a command in a makefile (including your
package's upstream makefiles and <code>debian/rules</code>), it does so using
<code>sh</code>.  This means that <code>sh</code>'s usual bad error handling
properties apply: if you include a miniature script as one of the commands in
your makefile you'll find that if you don't do anything about it then errors
are not detected and <code>make</code> will blithely continue after problems.
</p>

<p>
Every time you put more than one shell command (this includes using a loop) in
a makefile command you must make sure that errors are trapped.  For simple
compound commands, such as changing directory and then running a program, using
<samp>&amp;&amp;</samp> rather than semicolon as a command separator is
sufficient.  For more complex commands including most loops and conditionals
you should include a separate <samp>set -e</samp> command at the start of every
makefile command that's actually one of these miniature shell scripts.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-timestamps"></a>4.7 Time Stamps</h2>

<p>
Maintainers should preserve the modification times of the upstream source files
in a package, as far as is reasonably possible.[<a href="footnotes.html#f20"
name="fr20">20</a>]
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-restrictions"></a>4.8 Restrictions on objects in source packages</h2>

<p>
The source package may not contain any hard links[<a href="footnotes.html#f21"
name="fr21">21</a>], device special files, sockets or setuid or setgid
files.[<a href="footnotes.html#f22" name="fr22">22</a>]
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-debianrules"></a>4.9 Main building script: <code>debian/rules</code></h2>

<p>
This file must be an executable makefile, and contains the package-specific
recipes for compiling the package and building binary package(s) from the
source.
</p>

<p>
It must start with the line <samp>#!/usr/bin/make -f</samp>, so that it can be
invoked by saying its name rather than invoking <code>make</code> explicitly.
That is, invoking either of <samp>make -f debian/rules <em>args...</em></samp>
or <samp>./debian/rules <em>args...</em></samp> must result in identical
behavior.
</p>

<p>
The following targets are required and must be implemented by
<code>debian/rules</code>: <samp>clean</samp>, <samp>binary</samp>,
<samp>binary-arch</samp>, <samp>binary-indep</samp>, and <samp>build</samp>.
These are the targets called by <code>dpkg-buildpackage</code>.
</p>

<p>
Since an interactive <code>debian/rules</code> script makes it impossible to
auto-compile that package and also makes it hard for other people to reproduce
the same binary package, all required targets must be non-interactive.  It also
follows that any target that these targets depend on must also be
non-interactive.
</p>

<p>
The targets are as follows:
</p>
<dl>
<dt><samp>build</samp> (required)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The <samp>build</samp> target should perform all the configuration and
compilation of the package.  If a package has an interactive pre-build
configuration routine, the Debian source package must either be built after
this has taken place (so that the binary package can be built without rerunning
the configuration) or the configuration routine modified to become
non-interactive.  (The latter is preferable if there are architecture-specific
features detected by the configuration routine.)
</p>

<p>
For some packages, notably ones where the same source tree is compiled in
different ways to produce two binary packages, the <samp>build</samp> target
does not make much sense.  For these packages it is good enough to provide two
(or more) targets (<samp>build-a</samp> and <samp>build-b</samp> or whatever)
for each of the ways of building the package, and a <samp>build</samp> target
that does nothing.  The <samp>binary</samp> target will have to build the
package in each of the possible ways and make the binary package out of each.
</p>

<p>
The <samp>build</samp> target must not do anything that might require root
privilege.
</p>

<p>
The <samp>build</samp> target may need to run the <samp>clean</samp> target
first - see below.
</p>

<p>
When a package has a configuration and build routine which takes a long time,
or when the makefiles are poorly designed, or when <samp>build</samp> needs to
run <samp>clean</samp> first, it is a good idea to <samp>touch build</samp>
when the build process is complete.  This will ensure that if
<samp>debian/rules build</samp> is run again it will not rebuild the whole
program.[<a href="footnotes.html#f23" name="fr23">23</a>]
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>build-arch</samp> (optional), <samp>build-indep</samp> (optional)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
A package may also provide one or both of the targets <samp>build-arch</samp>
and <samp>build-indep</samp>.  The <samp>build-arch</samp> target, if provided,
should perform all the configuration and compilation required for producing all
architecture-dependant binary packages (those packages for which the body of
the <samp>Architecture</samp> field in <samp>debian/control</samp> is not
<samp>all</samp>).  Similarly, the <samp>build-indep</samp> target, if
provided, should perform all the configuration and compilation required for
producing all architecture-independent binary packages (those packages for
which the body of the <samp>Architecture</samp> field in
<samp>debian/control</samp> is <samp>all</samp>).
</p>

<p>
If <samp>build-arch</samp> or <samp>build-indep</samp> targets are provided in
the rules file, the <samp>build</samp> target should either depend on those
targets or take the same actions as invoking those targets would perform.[<a
href="footnotes.html#f24" name="fr24">24</a>]
</p>

<p>
If one or both of the targets <samp>build-arch</samp> and
<samp>build-indep</samp> are not provided, then invoking
<code>debian/rules</code> with one of the not-provided targets as arguments
should produce a exit status code of 2.  Usually this is provided automatically
by make if the target is missing.
</p>

<p>
The <samp>build-arch</samp> and <samp>build-indep</samp> targets must not do
anything that might require root privilege.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>binary</samp> (required), <samp>binary-arch</samp> (required), <samp>binary-indep</samp> (required)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The <samp>binary</samp> target must be all that is necessary for the user to
build the binary package(s) produced from this source package.  It is split
into two parts: <code>binary-arch</code> builds the binary packages which are
specific to a particular architecture, and <samp>binary-indep</samp> builds
those which are not.
</p>

<p>
<samp>binary</samp> may be (and commonly is) a target with no commands which
simply depends on <samp>binary-arch</samp> and <samp>binary-indep</samp>.
</p>

<p>
Both <samp>binary-*</samp> targets should depend on the <samp>build</samp>
target, or on the appropriate <samp>build-arch</samp> or
<samp>build-indep</samp> target, if provided, so that the package is built if
it has not been already.  It should then create the relevant binary package(s),
using <code>dpkg-gencontrol</code> to make their control files and
<code>dpkg-deb</code> to build them and place them in the parent of the top
level directory.
</p>

<p>
Both the <samp>binary-arch</samp> and <samp>binary-indep</samp> targets
<em>must</em> exist.  If one of them has nothing to do (which will always be
the case if the source generates only a single binary package, whether
architecture-dependent or not), it must still exist and must always succeed.
</p>

<p>
The <samp>binary</samp> targets must be invoked as root.[<a
href="footnotes.html#f25" name="fr25">25</a>]
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>clean</samp> (required)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This must undo any effects that the <samp>build</samp> and <samp>binary</samp>
targets may have had, except that it should leave alone any output files
created in the parent directory by a run of a <samp>binary</samp> target.
</p>

<p>
If a <samp>build</samp> file is touched at the end of the <samp>build</samp>
target, as suggested above, it should be removed as the first action that
<samp>clean</samp> performs, so that running <samp>build</samp> again after an
interrupted <samp>clean</samp> doesn't think that everything is already done.
</p>

<p>
The <samp>clean</samp> target may need to be invoked as root if
<samp>binary</samp> has been invoked since the last <samp>clean</samp>, or if
<samp>build</samp> has been invoked as root (since <samp>build</samp> may
create directories, for example).
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>get-orig-source</samp> (optional)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This target fetches the most recent version of the original source package from
a canonical archive site (via FTP or WWW, for example), does any necessary
rearrangement to turn it into the original source tar file format described
below, and leaves it in the current directory.
</p>

<p>
This target may be invoked in any directory, and should take care to clean up
any temporary files it may have left.
</p>

<p>
This target is optional, but providing it if possible is a good idea.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt><samp>patch</samp> (optional)</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This target performs whatever additional actions are required to make the
source ready for editing (unpacking additional upstream archives, applying
patches, etc.).  It is recommended to be implemented for any package where
<samp>dpkg-source -x</samp> does not result in source ready for additional
modification.  See <a href="#s-readmesource">Source package handling:
<code>debian/README.source</code>, Section 4.14</a>.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<p>
The <samp>build</samp>, <samp>binary</samp> and <samp>clean</samp> targets must
be invoked with the current directory being the package's top-level directory.
</p>

<p>
Additional targets may exist in <code>debian/rules</code>, either as published
or undocumented interfaces or for the package's internal use.
</p>

<p>
The architectures we build on and build for are determined by <code>make</code>
variables using the utility <a
href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html#s-pkg-dpkg-architecture"><code>dpkg-architecture</code></a>.
You can determine the Debian architecture and the GNU style architecture
specification string for the build architecture as well as for the host
architecture.  The build architecture is the architecture on which
<code>debian/rules</code> is run and the package build is performed.  The host
architecture is the architecture on which the resulting package will be
installed and run.  These are normally the same, but may be different in the
case of cross-compilation (building packages for one architecture on machines
of a different architecture).
</p>

<p>
Here is a list of supported <code>make</code> variables:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_ARCH</samp> (the Debian architecture)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_ARCH_CPU</samp> (the Debian CPU name)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_ARCH_OS</samp> (the Debian System name)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</samp> (the GNU style architecture specification string)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_GNU_CPU</samp> (the CPU part of <samp>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</samp>)
</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>
<samp>DEB_*_GNU_SYSTEM</samp> (the System part of <samp>DEB_*_GNU_TYPE</samp>)
</p>
</li>
</ul>

<p>
where <samp>*</samp> is either <samp>BUILD</samp> for specification of the
build architecture or <samp>HOST</samp> for specification of the host
architecture.
</p>

<p>
Backward compatibility can be provided in the rules file by setting the needed
variables to suitable default values; please refer to the documentation of
<code>dpkg-architecture</code> for details.
</p>

<p>
It is important to understand that the <samp>DEB_*_ARCH</samp> string only
determines which Debian architecture we are building on or for.  It should not
be used to get the CPU or system information; the <samp>DEB_*_ARCH_CPU</samp>
and <samp>DEB_*_ARCH_OS</samp> variables should be used for that.  GNU style
variables should generally only be used with upstream build systems.
</p>

<hr>

<h3><a name="s-debianrules-options"></a>4.9.1 <code>debian/rules</code> and <samp>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</samp></h3>

<p>
Supporting the standardized environment variable <samp>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</samp>
is recommended.  This variable can contain several flags to change how a
package is compiled and built.  Each flag must be in the form <var>flag</var>
or <var>flag</var>=<var>options</var>.  If multiple flags are given, they must
be separated by whitespace.[<a href="footnotes.html#f26" name="fr26">26</a>]
<var>flag</var> must start with a lowercase letter (<samp>a-z</samp>) and
consist only of lowercase letters, numbers (<samp>0-9</samp>), and the
characters <samp>-</samp> and <samp>_</samp> (hyphen and underscore).
<var>options</var> must not contain whitespace.  The same tag should not be
given multiple times with conflicting values.  Package maintainers may assume
that <samp>DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS</samp> will not contain conflicting tags.
</p>

<p>
The meaning of the following tags has been standardized:
</p>
<dl>
<dt>nocheck</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This tag says to not run any build-time test suite provided by the package.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt>noopt</dt>
<dd>
<p>
The presence of this tag means that the package should be compiled with a
minimum of optimization.  For C programs, it is best to add <samp>-O0</samp> to
<samp>CFLAGS</samp> (although this is usually the default).  Some programs
might fail to build or run at this level of optimization; it may be necessary
to use <samp>-O1</samp>, for example.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt>nostrip</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This tag means that the debugging symbols should not be stripped from the
binary during installation, so that debugging information may be included in
the package.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>
<dl>
<dt>parallel=n</dt>
<dd>
<p>
This tag means that the package should be built using up to <samp>n</samp>
parallel processes if the package build system supports this.[<a
href="footnotes.html#f27" name="fr27">27</a>] If the package build system does
not support parallel builds, this string must be ignored.  If the package build
system only supports a lower level of concurrency than <var>n</var>, the
package should be built using as many parallel processes as the package build
system supports.  It is up to the package maintainer to decide whether the
package build times are long enough and the package build system is robust
enough to make supporting parallel builds worthwhile.
</p>
</dd>
</dl>

<p>
Unknown flags must be ignored by <code>debian/rules</code>.
</p>

<p>
The following makefile snippet is an example of how one may implement the build
options; you will probably have to massage this example in order to make it
work for your package.
</p>
<pre>
     CFLAGS = -Wall -g
     INSTALL = install
     INSTALL_FILE    = $(INSTALL) -p    -o root -g root  -m  644
     INSTALL_PROGRAM = $(INSTALL) -p    -o root -g root  -m  755
     INSTALL_SCRIPT  = $(INSTALL) -p    -o root -g root  -m  755
     INSTALL_DIR     = $(INSTALL) -p -d -o root -g root  -m  755
     
     ifneq (,$(filter noopt,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
         CFLAGS += -O0
     else
         CFLAGS += -O2
     endif
     ifeq (,$(filter nostrip,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
         INSTALL_PROGRAM += -s
     endif
     ifneq (,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
         NUMJOBS = $(patsubst parallel=%,%,$(filter parallel=%,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
         MAKEFLAGS += -j$(NUMJOBS)
     endif
     
     build:
     	# ...
     ifeq (,$(filter nocheck,$(DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS)))
     	# Code to run the package test suite.
     endif
</pre>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-substvars"></a>4.10 Variable substitutions: <code>debian/substvars</code></h2>

<p>
When <code>dpkg-gencontrol</code> generates <a
href="ch-controlfields.html#s-binarycontrolfiles">binary package control
files</a> (<code>DEBIAN/control</code>), it performs variable substitutions on
its output just before writing it.  Variable substitutions have the form
<samp>${<var>variable</var>}</samp>.  The optional file
<code>debian/substvars</code> contains variable substitutions to be used;
variables can also be set directly from <code>debian/rules</code> using the
<samp>-V</samp> option to the source packaging commands, and certain predefined
variables are also available.
</p>

<p>
The <code>debian/substvars</code> file is usually generated and modified
dynamically by <code>debian/rules</code> targets, in which case it must be
removed by the <samp>clean</samp> target.
</p>

<p>
See <code>deb-substvars(5)</code> for full details about source variable
substitutions, including the format of <code>debian/substvars</code>.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-debianwatch"></a>4.11 Optional upstream source location: <code>debian/watch</code></h2>

<p>
This is an optional, recommended configuration file for the <samp>uscan</samp>
utility which defines how to automatically scan ftp or http sites for newly
available updates of the package.  This is used by <code><a
href="http://dehs.alioth.debian.org/">http://dehs.alioth.debian.org/</a></code>
and other Debian QA tools to help with quality control and maintenance of the
distribution as a whole.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-debianfiles"></a>4.12 Generated files list: <code>debian/files</code></h2>

<p>
This file is not a permanent part of the source tree; it is used while building
packages to record which files are being generated.
<code>dpkg-genchanges</code> uses it when it generates a <code>.changes</code>
file.
</p>

<p>
It should not exist in a shipped source package, and so it (and any backup
files or temporary files such as <code>files.new</code>[<a
href="footnotes.html#f28" name="fr28">28</a>]) should be removed by the
<samp>clean</samp> target.  It may also be wise to ensure a fresh start by
emptying or removing it at the start of the <samp>binary</samp> target.
</p>

<p>
When <code>dpkg-gencontrol</code> is run for a binary package, it adds an entry
to <code>debian/files</code> for the <code>.deb</code> file that will be
created when <samp>dpkg-deb --build</samp> is run for that binary package.  So
for most packages all that needs to be done with this file is to delete it in
the <samp>clean</samp> target.
</p>

<p>
If a package upload includes files besides the source package and any binary
packages whose control files were made with <code>dpkg-gencontrol</code> then
they should be placed in the parent of the package's top-level directory and
<code>dpkg-distaddfile</code> should be called to add the file to the list in
<code>debian/files</code>.
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-embeddedfiles"></a>4.13 Convenience copies of code</h2>

<p>
Some software packages include in their distribution convenience copies of code
from other software packages, generally so that users compiling from source
don't have to download multiple packages.  Debian packages should not make use
of these convenience copies unless the included package is explicitly intended
to be used in this way.[<a href="footnotes.html#f29" name="fr29">29</a>] If the
included code is already in the Debian archive in the form of a library, the
Debian packaging should ensure that binary packages reference the libraries
already in Debian and the convenience copy is not used.  If the included code
is not already in Debian, it should be packaged separately as a prerequisite if
possible.  [<a href="footnotes.html#f30" name="fr30">30</a>]
</p>

<hr>

<h2><a name="s-readmesource"></a>4.14 Source package handling: <code>debian/README.source</code></h2>

<p>
If running <code>dpkg-source -x</code> on a source package doesn't produce the
source of the package, ready for editing, and allow one to make changes and run
<code>dpkg-buildpackage</code> to produce a modified package without taking any
additional steps, creating a <code>debian/README.source</code> documentation
file is recommended.  This file should explain how to do all of the following:
</p>
<ol type="1" start="1" >
<li>
<p>
Generate the fully patched source, in a form ready for editing, that would be
built to create Debian packages.  Doing this with a <samp>patch</samp> target
in <code>debian/rules</code> is recommended; see <a href="#s-debianrules">Main
building script: <code>debian/rules</code>, Section 4.9</a>.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
<ol type="1" start="2" >
<li>
<p>
Modify the source and save those modifications so that they will be applied
when building the package.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
<ol type="1" start="3" >
<li>
<p>
Remove source modifications that are currently being applied when building the
package.
</p>
</li>
</ol>
<ol type="1" start="4" >
<li>
<p>
Optionally, document what steps are necessary to upgrade the Debian source
package to a new upstream version, if applicable.
</p>
</li>
</ol>

<p>
This explanation should include specific commands and mention any additional
required Debian packages.  It should not assume familiarity with any specific
Debian packaging system or patch management tools.
</p>

<p>
This explanation may refer to a documentation file installed by one of the
package's build dependencies provided that the referenced documentation clearly
explains these tasks and is not a general reference manual.
</p>

<p>
<code>debian/README.source</code> may also include any other information that
would be helpful to someone modifying the source package.  Even if the package
doesn't fit the above description, maintainers are encouraged to document in a
<code>debian/README.source</code> file any source package with a particularly
complex or unintuitive source layout or build system (for example, a package
that builds the same source multiple times to generate different binary
packages).
</p>

<hr>

<p>
[ <a href="ch-binary.html">previous</a> ]
[ <a href="index.html#contents">Contents</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-scope.html">1</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-archive.html">2</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-binary.html">3</a> ]
[ 4 ]
[ <a href="ch-controlfields.html">5</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-maintainerscripts.html">6</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-relationships.html">7</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-sharedlibs.html">8</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-opersys.html">9</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-files.html">10</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-customized-programs.html">11</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-docs.html">12</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-scope.html">A</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-binarypkg.html">B</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-sourcepkg.html">C</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-controlfields.html">D</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-conffiles.html">E</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-alternatives.html">F</a> ]
[ <a href="ap-pkg-diversions.html">G</a> ]
[ <a href="ch-controlfields.html">next</a> ]
</p>

<hr>

<p>
Debian Policy Manual
</p>

<address>
version 3.9.3.1, 2012-03-13<br>
<br>
<a href="ch-scope.html#s-authors">The Debian Policy Mailing List</a><br>
<br>
</address>
<hr>

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