Re: How to add "quilt" to an existing package?

[Goswin von Brederlow <goswin-v-b@web.de>]

Paul Wise <pabs@debian.org> writes:

> On Fri, Apr 1, 2011 at 9:34 AM, Michelle Konzack
> <linux4michelle@tamay-dogan.net> wrote:
>
>> I am working on a bunch of packages and write patches and I know  how to
>> use "quilt" but can someone tell me please, how I have to add quit to an
>> existing Debian Package which does currently not use quilt but I need it
>> to make things easier?
>
> This is more of a question for debian-mentors.
>
> In any case the answers are in maint-guide:
>
> http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ch-modify.en.html#s-quiltrc
> http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ch-modify.en.html#s-fixupstream
> http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ch-dother.en.html#s-sourcef
> http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/ch-dother.en.html#s-patches

Those give a 404.

Looking up the maint-guide the hard way I see that the quilt part is
also outdated. No mention of 3.0 (quilt) format and outdated use of
QUILT_PATCHES.


So here is a quickstart for switching to 3.0 (quilt):

# Switch to 3.0 (quilt format)
mkdir debian/source
echo '3.0 (quilt)' >debian/source/format

# Initialize quilt setup (avoids having to specify QUILT_PATCHES)
dpkg-buildpackage -S

Now you can simply use quilt. It is that easy.

If your source already has changes compared to upstream then you will
get a line like:

dpkg-source: info: local changes stored in hello-2.6/debian/patches/debian-changes-2.6-1, the modified files are:
 hello-2.6/src/hello.c

You should rename the patch to something more suitable and if it
contains multiple changes consider spliting it up.



For those not quite familiar with quilt here is another quickstart for
how to create a new patch:

Say you have downloaded and unpacked a source package using 3.0 (quilt)
format. Now how to create new patch? You can do it via quilt, create a
new patch, add the files to the patch before editing them, etc... But
lets take the much simpler road:

# Do your changes
sensible-editor file1 file2 file3

# Build package as often as needed to get it right
dpkg-buildpackage

# Make things tidy: Use proper name for patch and fill in header
quilt rename foo-patch
quilt header -e

Now you can attach debian/patches/foo-patch to your bugreport or (as
maintainer) upload a new package with it and maybe send it upstream.


Enjoy,
        Goswin