Re: multiple source files
On Tue, Aug 07, 2001 at 05:41:43PM -0600, Barak Pearlmutter wrote:
> I'm packaging something which upstream distributes as four separate .tgz
> files, each for a vaguely orthogonal hunk of functionality. I'd like to glom
> them all together as one single source package.
>
> Is there nice way to handle this? Aside from the ugly workaround of smashing
> the upstream stuff into a single .tar.gz and pretending that was the upstream
> sources, I mean.
If they are capable of being built separately (i.e., they don't expect to be
unpacked into a single source tree and built together), I recommend
distributing them as separate source packages, especially if:
- The upstream maintainer might release a new version of one tarball, without
a new version of the others
- They have different build-time dependencies (leaving them divided would make
it easier for a user to build the part that they want from source)
Using multiple source packages allows you to isolate packaging changes, so you
don't have to upload an enormous set of source and binary packages just because
of one small change. Consider the upstream maintainer's reasons for splitting
the package, and see if they will apply to Debian as well.
--
- mdz
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