Wanted: really weird status files from production machines

[Ian Jackson <ian@davenant.greenend.org.uk>]

As I report on debian-dpkg in
 <18130.58341.210815.470424@davenant.relativity.greenend.org.uk>
I'm proposing to deploy a new dpkg status file parser.

It would be bad if someone installed the new dpkg but then the new
dpkg rejected their status file.  I think I've captured the complete
historical syntax as accepted generated by existing dpkg versions, but
the existing parser is rather too extensively- written to be able to
do a formal analysis.  It is possible (even likely) that there
constructions accepted by the old parser but rejected by the new.  I
want to be sure that no such constructions exist in the wild.

So if you have a machine which you have reason to believe has unusual
entries in its status file, please send me copies of the unusual
stanzas.

Alternatively, download the executable `perftest'
  http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~ian/git/dpkg/dpkg.speedup/build-tree/src/perftest
and run
  .../perftest a1 y
which should print `done y' and not complain about any syntax errors.

Ian.