Bug#850157: Please deprecate all ad-hoc patch systems

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

Package: debian-policy
Version: 3.9.8.0

The policy section "Source package handling: debian/README.source"
should be entirely replaced with a requirement that

  Running dpkg-source -x on a source package MUST produce the source
  of the package, ready for editing, and allow one to make changes,
  and run dpkg-buildpackage to produce a modified package, without
  taking any additional steps.

  If the upstream or Debian source code maintenance practices applying
  to the package are nontrivial (for example, if the uploaded source
  package is itself generated from a metarepository), this should be
  documented in debian/README.source.

And one could probably add

  Previously, packages which had ad-hoc patch systems would document
  their source code management practices in debian/README.source.
  Source packages now MUST NOT use in-source-package patch systems
  other than `3.0 (quilt)'.

Ian.

-- 
Ian Jackson <ijackson@chiark.greenend.org.uk>   These opinions are my own.

If I emailed you from an address @fyvzl.net or @evade.org.uk, that is
a private address which bypasses my fierce spamfilter.