Changelogs and bug closing

[Ian Jackson <ian@chiark.greenend.org.uk>]

Firstly, I think it would be a good thing if there were a way a
developer could request closure of bugs when a package was installed.

I concur that this should be done by dinstall, based on a Closes field
in the .changes file.

However, I don't think this should be done using the keyword/value
syntax in parsechangelog/debian.  I think that it should be done by
grepping the text of the changelog entry for a relevant and explicit
string.  That way the bug being closed can be associated explicitly
with a particular item in the changelog, by humans or by machines.
parsechangelog/debian should take the information out of the changelog
and put it in a Closes line in its output, and dpkg-source et al
should be updated to handle the new field.  I propose the syntax
  * yada yada yada wibble closes:Bug#NNNN,Bug#MMMM stuff.
ie the regexp /closes:Bug\#\d+\(,Bug\#\d+\)*/ (Perl syntax - and
case-sensitive).

There are a couple of issues that need further thought:

* We now have several people uploading different versions of the same
package, for different architectures or compilation environments.
Some bugs should only be closed when the source is released; others
may be to do with particular ports and should be closed when that
architecture is released (though how to handle this in the
debian/changelog is not clear).  Perhaps initially the mechanism
should only be used for source uploads.

* The exact form of the message from dinstall is quite important.  It
must appear to come from the developer submitting the package, so that
the bug system sends its notifications &c to the right place, and it
must make sense to the user.  I propose:
  From: <maintainer from changes file>
  To: <nnn>-submitter@bugs
  Bcc: <maintainer from changes file>, <nnn>-close@bugs
  Subject: Bug#<nnn>: fixed in <package> <version>

  We believe that the bug you reported is fixed in the latest version
  of <package> (<version>), which has been installed in the
  Debian FTP archive as:
    <path/to/binary/package>
    <path/to/source/package>
#if NOT_INSTALLED_INTO_STABLE
  NB that this package is not part of the released stable Debian
  distribution; it may have dependencies on other unreleased software,
  or other instabilities.  Please take care if you wish to install it.
  The bugfix will eventually make its way into the next released
  Debian distribution.
#endif

  A summary of the changes between this version and the previous one
  is attached.

  Thank you for reporting the bug, which will now be closed.  If you
  have further comments please address them to <nnn>@bugs, and the
  maintainer will if appropriate reopen the bug report while your
  concerns are addressed.

  Debian distribution maintenance software
  pp.
  <maintainer from changes file> (supplier of updated <package>)

  (This message was generated automatically at their request; if you
  believe that there is a problem with it please contact the archive
  administrators by mailing <contact address>.)

  <.changes entry>

Ian.