Re: application with no clean in makefile

[Ben Finney <ben+debian@benfinney.id.au>]

Don Raikes <DON.RAIKES@oracle.com> writes:

> I am wanting to package an application, however, I noticed that the
> Makefile has no clean or distclean target.
>
> What is the best way to handle this situation?

It is possible to customise the behaviour of Debian's packaging steps,
by adding new commands in ‘debian/rules’ (which is another Makefile). I
think that's an inferior option in this case, though, since the
situation you describe should eventually be fixed upstream.

I would advise that you add those targets to the Makefile in a patch,
and submit that patch to the upstream maintainers for inclusion in a
future version of the work.

After submitting it upstream, apply it in your package as a patch. Once
upstream release a new version with your patch applied, you can then
remove that patch from your packaging when you package that new version.

See the ‘dpkg’ documentation for how to use the “3.0 (quilt)” source
package format to manage your patches to the original source.

-- 
 \       “I am amazed, O Wall, that you have not collapsed and fallen, |
  `\            since you must bear the tedious stupidities of so many |
_o__)                  scrawlers.” —anonymous graffiti, Pompeii, 79 CE |
Ben Finney