Bug#683222: debian-policy: Policy section 4.4 is imprecise with respect to section 12.7
Arno Töll <arno@debian.org> writes:
> Policy section 4.4 states (emphasize mine):
> Changes in the Debian version of the package _should_ be briefly
> explained in the Debian changelog file debian/changelog.[15] [..]
> This implies, use of debian/changelog is optional with respect to the
> normative meaning of "should" in the policy manual.
Correct. It's not an RC bug to not describe a change in the Debian
version of the package, just a normal bug.
> However, reading section 12.7 this is not true:
> Packages that are not Debian-native must contain a compressed copy of
> the debian/changelog file from the Debian source tree in
> /usr/share/doc/package with the name changelog.Debian.gz.
This is about something completely different, namely the presence of the
changelog file.
I think you've been confused into thinking that Policy 4.4 is about the
presence of the file rather than its usage. Policy doesn't say anything
about the existence of the file in source packages right now. This
strikes me as obvious, which is probably why no one has bothered, but we
can add a sentence somewhere saying that the file has to exist.
> Please add a sentence for clarification to section 4.4, or replace the
> "should" in 4.4 by "must" for consistency.
"Must" for the existing language is definitely wrong, since it would be
saying that it's an RC bug to miss describing a change to the package. I
don't think we want to go there.
--
Russ Allbery (rra@debian.org) <http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/>
Reply to: