Bug#250202: "debian/README.source" file for packages with non-trivial source
Frank Küster <frank@kuesterei.ch> writes:
> I suggest to end this paragraph with
>
> + system (for example, a package that builds the same source
> + multiple times to generate different binary packages, or a
> + package which had to change the upstream tarball due to
> + technical or license reasons).
>
> Rationale: The developer's reference describes in
>
> 6.7.8 Best practices for orig.tar.gz files
>
> how to document properly any changes that need to be done to the
> orig.tar.gz, and recommends the name README.Debian-source. This is the
> only mention of that filename in devref, and README.source is not
> mentioned at all.
As discussed on -mentors (and I believe I also filed a bug against
devref), I believe the devref instructions are wrong. The proper location
for this information is debian/copyright, which is already required to
contain information about the provenance of the upstream source.
> Actually, I think that name, README.Debian-source, is even better for
> the patch system issue, too, since it's about Debian-specific
> modifications of the source.
It's already in the debian/ directory, so the additional Debian- seems
redundant to me. If the existing file name were in widespread use, the
redundancy wouldn't really matter, but I don't get that impression.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
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