My second still applies to the following diff; I agree this is consistent with the discussion so far. diff --git a/policy/ch-source.rst b/policy/ch-source.rst index ee9270d..93beb4a 100644 --- a/policy/ch-source.rst +++ b/policy/ch-source.rst @@ -259,13 +259,33 @@ files, sockets or setuid or setgid files.. [#]_ Main building script: ``debian/rules`` -------------------------------------- -This file must be an executable makefile, and contains the -package-specific recipes for compiling the package and building binary -package(s) from the source. - -It must start with the line ``#!/usr/bin/make -f``, so that it can be -invoked by saying its name rather than invoking ``make`` explicitly. -That is, invoking either of ``make -f debian/rules args...`` or ``./debian/rules args...`` must result in identical behavior. +This file must be an executable makefile. It contains the +package-specific recipes for compiling the source (if required) and +constructing one or more binary packages. + +``debian/rules`` must start with the line ``#!/usr/bin/make -f``, so that +it can be invoked by saying its name rather than invoking ``make`` +explicitly. That is, invoking either of ``make -f debian/rules args...`` +or ``./debian/rules args...`` must result in identical behavior. + +The recommended way to implement the build process of a Debian package, in +the absence of a good reason to use a different approach, is the ``dh`` +tool. This includes the contents of the ``debian/rules`` building script. +``dh`` is the most common packaging helper tool in Debian. Using it will +usually save effort in complying with the rules in this document, because +``dh`` will automatically implement many of them without requiring +explicit instructions. + +There are sometimes good reasons to use a different approach. For +example, the standard tools for packaging software written in some +languages may use another tool; some rarer packaging patterns, such as +multiple builds of the same software with different options, are easier to +express with other tools; and a packager working on a different packaging +helper might want to use their tool. The recommendation to use ``dh`` +does not always apply, and use of ``dh`` is not required. + +For more information about how to use ``dh``, see the documentation in the +debhelper package, most notably the dh(1) manual page. The following targets are required and must be implemented by ``debian/rules``: ``clean``, ``binary``, ``binary-arch``,
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