Bug#413320: developers-reference: copyright instead of README.Debian-source for repackaging

[Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org>]

Package: developers-reference
Version: 3.3.8
Severity: wishlist

Currently, the Developer's Reference recommends documenting a repackaged
upstream source in README.Debian-source (section 6.7.8.2):

    must contain detailed information how the repackaged source was
    obtained, and how this can be reproduced, in README.Debian-source or
    a similar file. This file should be in the diff.gz part of the Debian
    source package, usually in the debian directory, not in the repackaged
    orig.tar.gz.

I think debian/copyright is a more natural and correct location for this
information.  Policy 12.5 says:

    In addition, the copyright file must say where the upstream sources (if
    any) were obtained.

I think any repackaging of an upstream source is logically part of the
information about where those sources were obtained, or at least a logical
extension of the same idea.

Furthermore, what repackaging was done can normally be described in a
sentence or a paragraph, which makes it rather short for a separate file.

One possible compromise would be to recommend debian/copyright as the
place for a statement that the upstream source was repackaged and a brief
description of why and how, and to recommend README.Debian-source as the
location for more extended instructions or details, if needed.

-- System Information:
Debian Release: 4.0
  APT prefers testing
  APT policy: (990, 'testing'), (500, 'unstable'), (1, 'experimental')
Architecture: i386 (i686)
Shell:  /bin/sh linked to /bin/bash
Kernel: Linux 2.6.18-3-686
Locale: LANG=en_US.UTF-8, LC_CTYPE=en_US.UTF-8 (charmap=UTF-8)