Re: NMU

[Jim Pick <jim@jimpick.com>]

Turbo Fredriksson <turbo@tripnet.se> writes:

> I have found a bug in 'sgml-tools'... return type of `main' is not `int'
> 
> It will not build. No wonder, I wouldn't eater, one can (or should not anyway),
> have a function as void, if it returns a value... 'exit(0)'...

I thought that was just a warning, not an error.  Am I wrong?

Can you post a bit of code?
 
> How do I do a NMU?

>From the "Debian Developer's Reference"
<http://www.debian.org/doc/packaging-manuals/developers-reference/> :

4.4 Interim releases

   Under certain circumstances it is necessary for someone other than the
   usual package maintainer to make a release of a package. For example,
   a porter for another architecture may have to make some small changes
   to the source package and does not wish to wait with uploading their
   release until the main maintainer has incorporated the patch, or a
   serious security problem may have come to light requiring immediate
   attention.

   When a security bug is detected a fixed package should be uploaded as
   soon as possible. In this case, the Debian Security Managers should
   get in contact with the package maintainer to make sure a fixed
   package is uploaded within a reasonable time (less than 48 hours). If
   the package maintainer cannot provide a fixed package fast enough or
   if he/she cannot be reached in time, the Security Manager may upload a
   fixed package.

   When someone other than the usual maintainer releases a package they
   should add a new component to the debian-revision component of the
   version number--that is, the portion after the (last) hyphen. This
   extra component will start at 1. This is to avoid `stealing' one of
   the usual maintainer's version numbers, possibly disrupting their
   work. If there is no debian-revision component in the version number
   then one should be created, starting at 1.

   If it is absolutely necessary for someone other than the usual
   maintainer to make a release based on a new upstream version then the
   person making the release should start with the debian-revision value
   0.1. The usual maintainer of a package should start their
   debian-revision numbering at 1.

   Maintainers other than the usual package maintainer should make as few
   changes to the package as possible, and they should always send a
   unified context diff (diff -u) detailing their changes to the bug
   tracking system properly flagged with the correct package so that the
   usual maintainer is kept aware of the situation. If the non-maintainer
   upload fixes some bugs, the bug reports should not be closed. However,
   the person making the non-maintainer release should send a short
   message to the bug tracking system to all the fixed bugs explaining
   that they have been fixed. This way, the maintainer and other people
   will get notified about that.
  
   The normal maintainer should do at least one of
     * apply the diff,
     * read the diff and decide on each part of it themselves, or
     * if the maintainer decides not to apply the patch but to release a
       new version, read the description of the changes to the next
       upstream version and ensure that they fix each problem that was
       fixed in the non-maintainer release.
   
   In addition, the normal maintainer should always include an entry in
   the changelog file documenting the non-maintainer upload.


I hope that helps...  we'll need to do a lot of this.

Cheers,

 - Jim