Bug#536790: debian-policy: please clarify 'required target' in section 4.9

[Russ Allbery <rra@debian.org>]

Jamie Strandboge <jamie@ubuntu.com> writes:

> I agree that my suggestion is not as unambiguous as it could be. This
> was only one possible rewording. Perhaps using 'implemented' for the
> required targets would be sufficiently clear. Perhaps:

> "At a minimum, required targets must be implemented by debian/rules and
> are the ones called by dpkg-buildpackage, namely, clean, binary,
> binary-arch, binary-indep, and build."

That sounds like a good approach to me.

I think this bug is just asking for a non-normative clarification of the
intention of the current Policy wording.  I've therefore applied the
following patch for the next release, which doesn't alter the requirements
of Policy but should hopefully make them more clear.

Thanks for the report!

diff --git a/policy.sgml b/policy.sgml
index 0624290..9037de8 100644
--- a/policy.sgml
+++ b/policy.sgml
@@ -1827,22 +1827,25 @@
 	</p>
 
 	<p>
+	  The following targets are required and must be implemented
+	  by <file>debian/rules</file>: <tt>clean</tt>, <tt>binary</tt>,
+	  <tt>binary-arch</tt>, <tt>binary-indep</tt>, and <tt>build</tt>.
+	  These are the targets called by <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>.
+	</p>
+
+	<p>
 	  Since an interactive <file>debian/rules</file> script makes it
-	  impossible to auto-compile that package and also makes it
-	  hard for other people to reproduce the same binary
-	  package, all <em>required targets</em> must be
-	  non-interactive. At a minimum, required targets are the
-	  ones called by <prgn>dpkg-buildpackage</prgn>, namely,
-	  <em>clean</em>, <em>binary</em>, <em>binary-arch</em>,
-	  <em>binary-indep</em>, and <em>build</em>. It also follows
-	  that any target that these targets depend on must also be
+	  impossible to auto-compile that package and also makes it hard
+	  for other people to reproduce the same binary package, all
+	  required targets must be non-interactive.  It also follows that
+	  any target that these targets depend on must also be
 	  non-interactive.
 	</p>
 
 	<p>
-	  The targets are as follows (required unless stated otherwise):
+	  The targets are as follows:
 	  <taglist>
-	    <tag><tt>build</tt></tag>
+	    <tag><tt>build</tt> (required)</tag>
 	    <item>
 	      <p>
 		The <tt>build</tt> target should perform all the
@@ -1953,8 +1956,8 @@
 	      </p>
 	    </item>
 
-	    <tag><tt>binary</tt>, <tt>binary-arch</tt>,
-	      <tt>binary-indep</tt>
+	    <tag><tt>binary</tt> (required), <tt>binary-arch</tt>
+	      (required), <tt>binary-indep</tt> (required)
 	    </tag>
 	    <item>
 	      <p>
@@ -2002,7 +2005,7 @@
 	      </p>
 	    </item>
 
-	    <tag><tt>clean</tt></tag>
+	    <tag><tt>clean</tt> (required)</tag>
 	    <item>
 	      <p>
 		This must undo any effects that the <tt>build</tt>

-- 
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org)               <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>