Re: What to do if the upstream keeps debian directory in original tarball?
Stan Vasilyev <stan.vasilyev@csun.edu> writes:
> I have a situation with a Debian package xdialog:
> http://packages.qa.debian.org/x/xdialog.html
> The upstream author, Thierry Godefroy <xdialog@free.fr>, insists on
> keeping the debian changes inside the upstream tarball, orig.tar.gz.
> This complicates the development process. First of all, when he makes a
> new version of xdialog, he sends it to the Debian maintainer (me). I
> then have to make changes to the debian directory and send him the
> changes. Finally, he releases the new upstream with Debian changes
> already included.
Well, if you want to do that for him, that's great, but I don't think
you're obligated to follow that work flow. And indeed, if you have
changes that you need to make between upstream releases, you can't really
follow that workflow.
What I would do if I were you would be to make the changes you need to
make to the upstream debian directory to have the package work the way
that it should and send the diffs back to upstream as a courtesy, but not
wait for a new upstream release with those changes before uploading. When
there's a new upstream release, you can then resynchronize, make whatever
changes are still needed, and upload a new package.
The result will be that the debian directory upstream will always trail
slightly behind what's in Debian, but that's probably fine for what he
wants to do with it. People will likely still be able to download and
build it if they want.
> I tried convincing the upstream to remove the debian directory, but so
> far he refused. His argument is that a user should be able to download
> his tarball and build it from source, build an rpm package or build a
> deb package. I sent one more e-mail to him where I presented an argument
> that his strategy slows down the development process and introduces more
> problems than it solves.
Yeah, I agree with your general argument, but I can also see where he's
coming from. He's applying the RPM model where this is how people
normally handle RPMs of software that Red Hat itself isn't maintaining.
He probably doesn't understand how much easier it is for people to use
apt-get --build source than it is for them to try to build from the
upstream tarball.
> If Thierry refuses to remove the debian directory, would it be OK for me
> to remove it myself and repackage pristine source without it?
I don't think removing an upstream debian directory is sufficient reason
to repackage the upstream source. You can do the packaging as diffs
against the upstream debian directory just as easily. Heck, if what
upstream ships there is too annoying, you can always just blow away the
debian directory in your working copy, create your own packaging, and let
diff figure out the transform (although be careful of upstream files that
you need to delete in your version).
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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