Re: native packages
On Wed, Apr 14, 2004 at 07:24:22PM -0600, Gunnar Wolf wrote:
> > > Forcing me to keep copies of those binary files that have changed
> > > inside the debian directory is a complete kludge, particularly since
> > > the debian directory is also under source control, and in the end,
> > > when I do a full release, the changed binary file *wants* to be in
> > > tests/f_dupinode/image.gz, not in some random place in the debian
> > > directory.
> >
> > delete the binary file during debian/rules clean.
>
> You would still be distributing it in your orig.tar.gz, and that still
> breaks DFSG. You have to compromise the 'pristine sources' ideal (note
> that it is not required by Debian, just reccomended) and repackage the
> orig.tar.gz without the blobs.
Nope, it doesn't break DFSG. The binary image is a **filesystem**.
It is used for a regression test suite for e2fsck. Yes I know that
regression test suites is a concept which is foreign to many open
source programmers, but hopefully it is not completely unfamiliar to
people with a smattering of training in software engineering
techiques.
The binary image of the filesystem is in its preferred form for
modifications, using the debugfs tool. And they are shipped with
e2fsprogs and they are part of the "prestine source".
However, when I fix a bug, sometimes I need to modify one of the test
filesystems in order to introduce a new type of filesystem corruptions
so it can be tested by the regression test suite. The general rule of
thumb is that is that I will try to reproduce the problem, create a
simple test case, or modify an existing test case to encompass the
problem, verify that it breaks under the current version of e2fsck,
and then fix the bug in e2fsck, and then verify that the new version
of e2fsck can pass the regression test suite.
The test suite is part of the e2fsprogs sources, and so when I upload
the patch, the fix may include a modified binary image of the test
filesystem --- which dpkg-source cannot deal with. Nevertheless, that
filesystem image is in fact a **source** file from the legalistic
definition of the DFSG --- the filesystem image is in fact the
perferred --- nay, the only --- form of the file for modifications and
updates.
- Ted
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