Re: Getting started - Q about post int procedures etc.
> So finally I have located a package (xdir) that nobody is working on. I
> want to build a test package and see if I am qualified enough to become a
> official Debian developer. Here is what I do -
>
> 1. tar zxvf the package.
> 2. cd directory_of_package
> 3. deb-make
> 4. cd debian
> 5. rm *.ex
Well, yes except for .ex files that you want to use.
> This is a x package for which I need to add a menu entry. Is it enough if
> I just edit the menu.ex file? Would dpkg automagically know how to add the
> menu entry?
No, but debstd would if you have a call to it in debian/rules. You also have
to rename menu.ex to menu. Please note that debstd/debmake is pretty much
deprecated. Use debhelper tools or do it all yourself, like the more brave of
us do ;-).
>
> 6. build
Well, not quite. You do need to edit the changelog file, the control file etc.
> 7. dpkg --install fooBar.deb
>
> I think the best way for me to learn would probably be by extracting
> everything from a similar .deb package. How do I extract the contents of a
> .deb package? I am not talking about dpkg --exctract. Obviously the
> creator of a package has to have some way to inform dpkg to add the menu
> entry.
You want to get the debian source package. Go to debian/hamm/hamm/source on
your mirror, and get the orig.tar.gz, diff.gz and .dsc files for the package
you want to take a look at. Then, extract it using 'dpkg-source -x <name of
package>*dsc'
>
> Also, what is a good document to read to get started. I have already read
> the Debian Developers Reference and the New Package Maintainer's Debian
> Packaging HOWTO.
Did you look through the Packaging manual? It might not make sense at first,
but you do have to understand most of it in order to be proficient, IMO.
--
Proudly running Debian Linux! Linux vs. Windows is a no-Win situation....
Igor Grobman igor@debian.org igor@digicron.com
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