DEP 12: Machine-readable debian/upstream for upstream metadata
Dear all,
this morning I have reserved DEP 12 for the proposition of a machine-readable
file, debian/upstream, to hold metadata about a source package's upstream
project. The discussion will take place later on debian-qa@lists.debian.org,
but with Debconf approaching, I thought it may be preferable to advertise again
the concept.
The key point is to have an upload-independant central point where arbitrary
data can be stored and updated. The debian/upstream file is easy to retrieve
from a source package's VCS, and easy to parse as it is in YAML format. In the
scientific Debian Pure Blends, we are using it to store bibliographic
information about manuscripts related to the package, but I think that the
debian/upstream file would be a good place also for storing other informations
such as URL to the upstream bugtracker, VCS, FAQ, registration or donation
pages, etc.
You can find more information on the Debian wiki:
http://wiki.debian.org/UpstreamMetadata
I hope that by the end of the summer, we can have a discuscussion on this
project as DEP 12 and see if it takes off or not.
Have a nice week-end, and a nice Debconf,
Charles
--
Charles Plessy
Debian Med packaging team,
http://www.debian.org/devel/debian-med
Tsurumi, Kanagawa, Japan
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