Bug#513544: lintian: pedantic 'no-upstream-changelog' should check if upsteam changelog is not empty
* Francesco Poli <invernomuto@paranoici.org>, 2012-09-11, 22:07:
Apparently upstream authors do not care about writing a changelog
Sadly, this is often the case.
and the upstream archive just includes an empty (zero length) file
named ChangeLog (probably because GNU autotools create a number of
empty files with standard names and the upstream authors didn't care to
delete unused ones).
In this case, dh_installchangelogs does not install the upstream
changelog into the package build directories (and rightfully so, I
think).
(Right, it would make little sense to install an empty changelog to the
binary package.)
But lintian complains that the Debian package does not include the
upstream changelog.
Do you disagree that this is a false positive for the lintian check?
Why?
To me, the tag servers two purposes:
1) In the rare cases where the changelog exists, but I frogot to install
it to the binary package, it reminds me that I should do it.
2) In the more common cases where the changelog does not exist, it
reminds me that I should ask upstream to start writing one.
So yes, from my perspective it's not a false positive.
What should the Debian package maintainer do in this case, in order to
please lintian?
Lintian is not a diety that you need to please. :) It just gives you
hints how to improve your packaging.
Also, please keep in this is a tag of severity "pedantic". "Pedantic
tags are Lintian at its most pickiest and include checks for particular
Debian packaging styles and checks that many people disagree with."
Fake an upstream changelog with information collected elsewhere?
That's one possibility.
Another is to ask upstream to start writing changelogs. :)
Or if you don't feel that benefits of having a changelog justify effort
of any of the above, you could live with the tag, possibly adding
an override.
(Note: this is my personal opinion. I'm not a Lintian maintainer.)
Repack the upstream archive just to drop an empty file?
No, that wouldn't help.
--
Jakub Wilk
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