Re: diff.gz contains more than just debian directory
On Thu, Sep 22, 2005 at 08:51:44PM +0200, Vedran Fura? wrote:
> Is it OK to have more than debian directory (and files under it) in
> package_version-rev.diff.gz? I have a lot of other diffs outside debian/
> (in aclocal.m4, Makefile.in,...). The problem is that after I run
> ./configure and then make distclean, I don't have the same directory (as
> it was before ./configure). Can I ignore this?
It is a nice property to have that the .diff.gz modifies (well,
creates) only files in ./debian/. However, it is not a necessary
property. It is perfectly acceptable to have it modify (or create)
some files provided upstream.
If you use dpatch, or a similar patch management system, then you
should, of course, keep all the patches in ./debian/patches, and then
the diff is restricted to ./debian/ (because the clean rule, invoked
before creating the .diff by dpkg-buildpackage, unpatches everything
to restore it to pristine state).
The relevent section is policy 4.8:
`clean'
This must undo any effects that the `build' and `binary' targets
may have had, except that it should leave alone any output files
created in the parent directory by a run of a `binary' target.
Actually, the accepted interpretation of the intent of this is just
that it must be possible to build a package multiple times, an d end
up with a functionally equivalent package. So, for example, the
following in the build: target would be bad:
sed -n '2p' foo >foo2; mv foo2 foo;
Because it will cause foo to have different contents during the second
build than during the first build.
The more thorough the clean target is, the better, though.
--
Clear skies,
Justin
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